Out of Ashes
by Quiet Wyatt
Summary: "Sometimes, it can be hard for a man to ask for help, even he desperately needs it." Kirishima is diagnosed with a disease and struggles with his identity as a man and Hero when he discovers he suddenly cannot protect his friends. How will he cope with the potential end of his Hero career and, maybe, even his life? Who will he turn to? Who can he turn to?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! So I've been out of the fanfic scene for awhile now. Trying to get back into it.**

 **So I discovered BNHA about 6 months ago and I love it. I like the story, the characters, everything.**

 **I'm having withdrawals since I caught up with the anime and manga both and decided to write my own story with the characters. I hope I can entertain some of y'all as well.**

 **Obviously, I'm a big fan of Kirishima. I feel I can really relate to him because he is full of self-doubt about whether or not he can become a hero. I think the manga chapter(s?) with him in middle school were my favorite. And not just because Mina was in them.**

 **Anyway, I wanted to write a story where Kirishima is faced with a life changing problem that he can't just punch away. And explore his relationship with Mina and the others.**

 **I really really appreciate reviews (who doesn't) because they indicate to me I am doing a good job OR they contain feedback that can give me ideas for the story or to help me grow. Please read and enjoy and review!**

Chapter 1: This? This is nothing!

"-and then this girl pulls off her own head, right?"

Denki Kaminari pulled the collar of his loose fitting black and yellow Henley up to past his forehead to give the appearance of a headless ghoul. He raised his arms and shuffled towards his classmate Mineta Minoru, raising a hollow moan before he ruined the illusion by tripping over his own too big pajama bottoms and going ass-over-teakettle.

Laughter enveloped the room as an undaunted Kaminari continued his story as if he had not just taken an embarrassing tumble in front of his best buds.

"And Mina, oh my god guys, Mina loses her shit so hard that she actually grabs hold of my boy Grape Nuts over here."

He jerked his thumb at Mineta, who had a million-dollar grin on his face, his fingers laced together behind his head. Izuku Midoriya scratched his head.

"Was that due to her Quirk or something? The girl pulling off her head?"

"I dunno man; we went to the haunted house, remember? I think she was a…zombie? I couldn't really tell." Kaminari. He opened his mouth to continue but was cut off.

"She pressed her boobs right into my face without me having to ask! Pretty much the best day of my life!"

"BUT that wasn't the best part! She totally gets stuck to his Quirk, right? So, she's over the zombie-girl by now and I guess her rational side came back and- "

"-and she told me she would melt my whole head if I didn't let her go! What's Ashido's problem anyway?"

"Mineta!" Class Rep Tenya Iida. "How could you use your Quirk in such a shameful manner? It sounds like you got off easy."

Iida's stern face lightened somewhat; he smirked at his smaller purple classmate.

"Although I wish I could have seen the look Ashido bestowed on you. From what Kaminari says, it was quite frightening."

"Duuuuuude it was terrifying. I was pretty sure Mineta was going to pee his pants. Even the zombie-girl backed off. Anyway, she grabbed Hagakure and stormed off ahead. When we got out of there, they were gone."

"You think that's why she's not replying to my texts?"

Kaminari, back on his feet at this point, sauntered over to the speaker, Eijiro Kirishima, and ruffled his hair and draped his arm around the other boy's shoulders. He used his free hand to gesture around the packed dorm room.

"Man, who the fuck cares? Don't worry about it; she'll text ya sooner or later. Besides, Mineta didn't do it on purpose- "Mineta frantically nodded his head, his purple and black hair bobbing with the movement. "-and he even apologized. Well, he shouted "SORRY you pushed your boobs in my face!" as they took off. But for him, that's progress."

Kaminari took a breath.

"So, how's about you put the phone away and you and I join up with Mineta and Sero and beat those losers in the next room?"

The group of first years, including Izuku Midoriya, Tenya Iida, Denki Kaminari, Eijiro Kirishima, Mineta Minoru, and Fumikage Tokoyami, were squeezed into the room of their classmate Hanta Sero on the 5th floor of their dorm on the UA campus. Tokoyami was lounging in Sero's hammock while the rest of the boys where crowded together on one side of the room; Iida, Midoriya, and Kaminari had taken over Sero's bed as their makeshift couch while the other three boys flopped down in bean bag chairs. Sero began to pass out controllers to Mineta, Kirishima, and Kaminari. He grabbed the fourth controller and, after a moment of thought, tossed it to Midoriya who, surprised as he was, snatched it out of the air. The green haired youth looked shocked before raising his eyebrow at Sero.

"H-H-Hey what are you doing, Sero? I've never played this game before."

Sero groaned. Dammit, Midoriya.

"You'll catch on fast, man. Besides, it's all good fun. Who cares if we win?"

"You shut your filthy whore mouth, Sero!" Kamanari. "I actually want to beat Bakugo this time."

Sero rounded on him.

"Not so loud, du- "

"WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST HEAR? YOU LOSERS AIN'T GOT SHIT ON US!" The shout echoed from the next room.

"-ude." Finished Sero lamely, his head slumping to look at the ground.

Across from Team Sero was a 60-inch OLED television, which normally was one of several scattered around the first floor of the dorm but had been relocated, along with one of its fellows, to sit before the group of young men. Sero himself had supplied the gleaming black Xbox One S that sat to the side. Although they couldn't see it, an identical television and game console, this one belonging to Midoriya, was set up in the room on the other side of the wall. Todoroki's room.

In truth, Shouto Todoroki was none too fussed about having five other guys crammed into his room but he also was very aware of the fact that it had been _absolute ages_ since the boys of class 1-A had done anything like this together. Sure, they had bonded over training, classwork, that time the League of Villains had shown up, personal injuries, that other time the League of Villains had shown up, the time the Yakuza had shown up, and finally, the challenge of the Cultural Festival.

But they had never just…hung out and done guy stuff. Like staying up super late and playing video games.

It had been Ojiro Mashirao who had suggested this particular game to the rest of them; apparently someone at his gym had a brother in America and they played it together nearly every night. It hadn't taken much convincing to get the rest of the boys on board, apart from Katsuki Bakugo, not that anyone was surprised when the explosive blond immediately dismissed their idea as "fucking stupid". However, Bakugo was getting predictable, as one well-placed barb from Kaminari was enough to get him to do a complete 180 and announce "I'MA DESTROY YOU NERDS! ESPECIALLY YOU, DEKU!"

("What did I do?" squeaked an exasperated looking Midoriya.)

The game of the night was Halo 2: Anniversary Edition. A cable trailed along the floor, running under both Sero's and Todoroki's doors, and linking the two systems. The LAN party had gotten a relatively late start of 2300 as setting up the systems and moving the televisions had to wait until the Cultural Festival was over. Saying their goodnights to the girls, many of whom rolled their eyes and mouthed ' _boys'_ to each other, the men of class 1-A had met up to decide on teams. Kouda Koji had opted out, much to the protest of his classmates, but they eventually relented as they knew he had a pet to take care of.

Still going strong at 0132, the boys found themselves about to start the fourth match of what had turned out to be a well-matched night of gaming; no one group was clearly dominating the other. In fact, the leader in terms of kill/death ratio turned out to be Mineta of all people, who was surprisingly good at forming strategies, followed closely by Mezo Shoji; the third-place spot was held by Sero. Much to his dismay and fury, Bakugo was middle of the pack as his fiery temper was apparently not a good match for the shooter.

Team Todoroki ("It's my room, Bakugo." "SCREW YOU, ICY HOT!") had barely scrapped a win in the last game; the group had previously agreed that the winning team could select the next map to play on. Yuga Aoyama suggested Warlord and the game begun in earnest. Aside from Bakugo (FUCK OFF I WANT THE SWORD! I'LL KILL YOU!), the microphone chat was mostly lighthearted as most of the boys exchanged good-natured barbs or casual chitchat; that was until Mineta dropped a bombshell.

"So, who do you think has the best rack in our class?"

There was a deafening silence from both groups as Mineta's comment hung on the air. In Sero's room, Iida dropped his soda can in shock; he glared over the top of his glasses at his classmate. His coming lecture was cut off as each of the players with a microphone begin to chime in.

"Momo." Todoroki.

"Momo." Ojiro

"Ashido." Kirishima.

"Momo." Kaminari.

"Tsuyu." Mineta.

"Ashido." Shoji.

"Uraraka." Midoriya.

"Uraraka." Sato.

…

"How could you all say that about our classmates?" Iida.

"Sorry, dudes. Iida grabbed my headset." Kaminari. They could hear him speaking in the background to Iida. 'It's just guy talk, man. Loosen up.'

"So, it looks like Momo wins, huh?" Mineta, before…

"Why are you guys encouraging him?" Iida. In the background.

The banter continued, adding background to the noises emanating from the television and the boys sharing the small room.

Kirishima began to feel a pressure building on his temples; the voices in the room started to blend together. The red-haired Hero ground his pointy teeth and shut his eyes against the suddenly blinding light in the room. As the pounding in his head began to increase in rhythm from a simple cadence to a complicated tattoo, he placed his controller on the ground and pressed both hands to the areas behind his ears.

Around him, the banter continued.

"- all I'm saying is that costume doesn't leave much to the imagination." Mineta.

"Yeah, but it's practical for her Quirk, isn't it?" Todoroki.

"Hey what grade did you guys get on Mike's test the other day?" Shoji.

"I thought I bombed it but when it came back it turned out a major bombed it." Sato.

"Speaking of bombs how DO YOU LIKE A STICKY BOMB?" Mineta.

"Hey who isn't moving? We're gonna lose" Midoriya.

"…Kirishima, are you ok, man?" Kaminari.

"What's going on?" Todoroki.

"He's holding his head and, like, grimacing. Hold on, guys." Kaminari.

"What's happening?" Shoji.

"He's stumbling his way to the bathroom. Pffff he just ran into a wall. Are you drunk, dude?" Mineta.

"Guys, I think he's throwing up." Kaminari.

"Should we tell someone?" Ojiro.

Kirishima took a sip of water, swished it around, and spat it into back the sink. He fumbled for the door handle and turned the lights out as he exited the bathroom. He found himself face to face with Kaminari. The blond looked at his friend with a worried expression in his eyes.

"Kiri, are you ok?"

Kirishima braced himself and grinned, his pointy teeth exposed. He pointed a thumb back over his shoulder.

"You mean this? It's nothing. I think I ate some bad food or something. I really need to learn how to cook." He added with a grin, hoping for a few laughs. When none came, he let his smile drop.

"Sorry about this, but I'm going to jet. I haven't been sleeping well lately and for some reason I'm so tired all the time. Night, guys. Kick Bakugo's ass."

"KIRISHIMA!"

Kirishima winced and turned his back on the group. He opened Sero's door and stepped out in the hallway at exactly the same moment as class 1-A's resident hothead. Bakugo walked right up to him.

"Don't lie to me, Kirishima! Are you sick or not?"

"Nah, it's just a bug – "

"THEN go the FUCK to bed, idiot!"

Wincing slightly, Kirishima nodded his goodnight and turned and padded towards the elevators at the end of the hall. Behind him, Bakugo watched his friend stagger down the hall, his face a cross of concern and anger. Kirishima reached the elevators and, after several tries, pushed the 'down' arrow. As the elevator began to rise, his right arm gave a slight jerk, followed by several more.

The doors opened and Kirishima all but stumbled into the lift; he took a deep breath and pushed the button for '4' one his first try. He silently hoped that no one was wandering around as the last thing he wanted was anyone to see him trip over his own feet or anything else less than manly.

Thankfully, the fourth floor was as empty as his stomach now was after his unexpected purging. Kirishima threw his door open harder than he meant to and closed it almost as forcefully. He quickly entered his own bathroom and brushed his teeth to get rid of the taste of sick that still lingered in his mouth.

He kicked off his slippers before removing his shirt. As he always did before bed, he stepped onto the scale that was next to this bathroom door. The number that flashed up was not what he had been expecting.

"Hmm that's another kilo lost. I guess I need to step it up in the gym!"

Still trying to ignore his pounding headache, Kirishima removed his cell phone to double check his alarm was set for the following morning. Even though it was Saturday, he liked to get up early and go for a run with Bakugo or Midoriya.

Kirishima frowned at the screen. A notification on the screen told him he had a text message. He quickly unlocked the phone to see who it was from.

Mina Ashido.

Feeling his heart skip a beat, Kirishima opened the message.

 _Hey, horn buddy! How was the obstacle course? Did you manage to beat Bakugo? Mineta totally peeved on me at the haunted house and I think I made him pee his pants! Have fun with whatever you guys are doing tonight!_

 _XOXO Mina_

Knowing Mina always signed her texts that way, Kirishima smiled to himself before attempting to set his cell phone down on his bedside table. Suddenly, his vision blurred, and his legs gave out, slamming his head into said bedside table before he slipped sideways onto his unmade bed. His head felt like it had burst open as he saw a flash of white light which slowly faded to black.


	2. We can take it!

Chapter 2: what we care about

 _2400 hours. Toru Hagakure's room_

"– and then the little perv yells after us "I'm sorry your BOOBS touched my chest". Sometimes I really wonder why he's allowed to stay here."

Mina Ashido's black sclera reflected the flickering light from the lantern set in the middle of the room, making her look more like an alien than usual. A single candle flame was dancing behind its glass prison, casting dancing shadows across the walls of Toru Hagakure's dorm room on the third floor of Height's Alliance, the class 1-A dorm building on the UA High campus. The overhead lights had been turned off and the girls had draped various blankets over the surfaces in the room to form a rudimentary fort.

Three other girls were clustered around the fluttering flame, clutching various junk food wrappers. Ochaco Uraraka, Tsuyu Asui, and the Invisible Girl herself exchanged looks before each casting a sympathetic smile in Mina's direction. In Hagakure's case, Mina assumed she was smiling as sympathetically as she possibly could.

"You mean Mineta – "Tsuyu paused here, picking her words carefully " - _OUR_ Mineta actually used the used the word "sorry"?"

Ochaco raised an eyebrow, an incredulous look replacing the sad smile she had been wearing.

"Yeah, I'm not buying it. Mineta never apologizes. I kind of admire that about him…."

Suddenly the brunette's face lit up bright red, appearing dark crimson in the wavering light of the lantern, as she waved her hands back and forth in front of her face. Her voice took on a frantic tone, one whole pitch higher than normal.

"I just mean the fact that he never apologizes! Don't get the wrong idea! Oops!" One of her flailing arms knocked into the lantern. Luckily, the heavy brass antique did little more than sway slightly. Ochaco hung her head in embarrassment and opened her mouth to offer an apology but couldn't see to form the words. She felt a comforting hand on her knee as she closed her mouth and identified its owner by her voice.

"You don't need to apologize for anything, Ochaco." Hagakure.

Ochaco suddenly felt her eyes go moist; she frantically wiped them on her sleeve. Hagakure's hand squeezed her knee as the invisible girl offered solace to her friend. Ochaco let out a sudden giggle.

"Oh geez, I'm a menace."

"True. But we like you anyway. Ribbit"

"Thanks, Sue. I'm sure that warms her heart." Mina rolled her eyes as she spoke. Suddenly, she shot forward, placing her hands on the floor as she leaned towards Ochaco who was twisting a strand of hair between her fingers.

"Speaking of pervs, have you been spying on Midoriya lately?"

If had been possible for Ochaco's face to turn any redder than before, Mina's comment would have certainly been the exacerbating factor. Thankfully, the Null Gravity Hero was saved from further embarrassment, or so she thought, by a muted _bzzzzzz_. Mina casually reached her hand back and came up with her cell phone. She quickly read the text message before replacing the cell phone on the wooden floor beside her. The floating pair of pajamas next to her reached across and grabbed Mina's phone.

"ooooooooh you didn't tell us you got a new phone, Mina! This is so cool; it's the newest model, right?"

"Yeah, my brother got it for me." Mina said absent-mindedly. Her attention was still focused on Ochaco. Beside her, Hagakure continued to admire the phone.

"Spill the beans, Uravity. I know you've been peeping on Midoriya."

Ochaco blushed at the sound of her hero name. She let out a sigh; she knew Mina was not one to just drop the topic.

"It's just…nice to see him pushing himself so hard. I really admire him and he…inspires me!" she finished heroically, her fist held over her head in a shallow imitation of All Might after his terrible victory over All For One.

Mina let out a scoff. She pointed an accusatory finger in Ochaco's direction.

"That is, like, the most politically correct answer I have ever heard. I want the dirty details, girl! Don't tell me for a second the sight of him shirtless doesn't get you going cause OH MAN!" Mina pretended to be fanning her face during an excruciating heat wave.

Ochaco was quiet for a few moments before speaking up in a small, almost defeated sounding, voice.

"Deku is…he…looks good." Mina excitedly nodded her head and gestured Ochaco to 'keep it coming'. Ochaco spoke in a slightly stronger voice, finding her stride.

"I like seeing him training so hard because…because I hate seeing him so broken." A few sniffles, from Ochaco, followed this statement. Mina found herself at a loss for words. Ochaco pressed on, her eyes misting over.

"I think I've gone to visit him in the hospital…four times now? And every time I see him, he seems to be more hurt than the last time. His arms…his legs…but never his spirit." Ochaco's shoulders shook. Tears fell.

"And did I t-tell him, even once, that seeing him so…so…mangled – "she spat out the word "- was hurting me? NO! I just…apologized like the stupid little girl I am!"

Ochaco turned her head away from the other girls. She didn't want them to see her cry, despite them being some of her best friends. She was the hero Uravity!

"I don't think you're stupid, Ochaco." Sue. "I mean, Midoriya would just blame himself, right? You saw him after Bakugo was taken."

"I guess you're right. Thanks, Sue." Ochaco wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry I got so -"

"NO!" Hagakure. "Stop apologizing, dammit!" The invisible girl almost never swore. She was worked up. "No, I don't agree at all."

"You think Ochaco should tell him?" Mina.

Hagakure was silent for a full minute. The only sounds in the room were the tinkling of the flame inside the lantern and another faint _bzzzzz_ as Mina received another text message. The pink girl stole a quick glance at her phone, saw who the sender was, and began to type out a quick reply.

"I mean, the world is just getting more dangerous, right?" All eyes turned to the invisible Hagakure; or, more accurately, the space where her head would be.

"Between the League of Villains, those Yakuza guys that the guys fought, and petty crimes getting more common every day, it's only a matter of time."

"Only a matter of time until what, Hagakure?" Sue asked in her flat tone.

"Until…one of us dies." Hagakure's voice was barely over a whisper, but the effect was as if she had shouted. The three other young women did a double take.

"Hagakure!" scolded Mina. "No one is going to d- "

"No. She's right." Ochaco's eyes, surprisingly dry, were downcast. "It's not as if our class has come though this unscathed. What if the next time…it's worse?"

"We're not characters in a graphic novel, Ashido." Sue. "It's not like we're invincible because of some plot."

"But look at every that has happened, guys! All these attacks, and we're all still standing!

"Ashido…" Mina cut Sue off, her voice raised slightly, as if she was trying to drown out her own doubts.

"No! We can handle whatever the League throws at us!"

 _0700 hours. UA campus._

"Thanks for coming out with me, man."

Izuku Midoriya has down on his hunches, one leg stretched out to his side as he limbered his stiff muscles. Beside him, Kirishima was running in place while bringing his knees up to his chest. The redhead was secretly exhausted; he had woken up at 0400, his head feeling like it was splitting in two. He also remembered that his right arm had felt heavier than usual. He had attributed it to sleeping on it wrong.

Now, three hours, and several glasses of water, later, Kirishima's headache had reduced to a slight pounding in his temple. His arms were flexed at the elbow while he pumped his legs, a vague feeling of pins and needles running through his right.

Midoriya finished his warm ups and jogged up to his friend's side. The young hero was wearing a pair of shorts and a slightly too big white T-shirt; he shivered in the early morning chill as bird songs rang out over the still campus. In contrast, his companion was garbed in a red sleeveless skintight shirt that hugged his torso. Goosebumps stood out on both boy's skin.

"Usually I go out with Bakugo, but I think he left without me today."

"It's no problem, Kirishima. What do you guys usually do?"

"Well, we usually warm up with a few laps around the campus, run sprints, and finally do some light sparring. Although I don't think Bakugo knows what 'light' means."

Midoriya nodded in agreement. Without another word, the pair took off at a jog. The crisp morning air slid over their tongues and down into their lungs as they both began to breath harder. The morning sun was just rising in the East and was currently blocked by the massive main building of UA, the prestigious high school both boys had been lucky enough to be accepted by.

The laps pasted in near silence as the slapping of athletic shows on pavement rose to mix with the bird songs echoing through the trees. Midoriya was in his element; most of the training he had accomplished with All Might had been cardio endurance training and this had only been improved by his time at the school.

The young man glanced behind him, expecting to see Kirishima hard on his heels. He was not expecting to see his fellow hero in training clutching the side of his head with one hand, his teeth and other hand clenched. Midoriya skidded to a halt and jogged back towards his friend. As he neared, he saw Kirishima's clenched fist, hanging at his side, giving spasmatic jerks.

"Kirishima!"

The redhead raised his still spasming arm and held up his index finger, indicating he needed a minute. Midoriya walked over and, cautiously, placed his hand on Kirishima's shoulder.

"Kirishima?"

Kirishima took a deep breath, raised his head, and shot a sharp-toothed grin at Midoriya. His eyes, Midoriya noticed, were squinted against the early morning sun. His breath still came in short, fast gasps.

"I'm fine, Mido. Sorry to worry you." The redhead gave Midoriya's chest a thump before jogging past him. Midoriya stared after him for a split second.

"Kirishima! Wait!"

"Come on, Midoriya! I want to hit the gym after this!"

The pair kept jogging until they were back in front of the Heights Alliance dorms. Kirishima spun to face Midoriya and took a fighting stance. His arm and hands suddenly hardened, becoming rock-like. He grinned at his classmate and yelled out a friendly challenge.

"Think you can take me, man?"

"Are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean, you weren't looking too good last night."

"You mean that? That was nothing! A man doesn't let a little headache stop him! Now come at me."

Midoriya continued to look skeptical, so Kirishima decided to take matters into his own hands. He suddenly sprinted forward, a punch aimed at Midoriya's face.

His punch never connected; at his first movement, Midoriya had activated his Full Cowling and sprang forward straight past his friend, almost too fast for Kirishima to see. All Might's successor planted his foot, swiveled around, and launched a descending kick which connected with Kirishima's hardened forearm. The force of the blow, not enough to cause any damage, pushed Kirishima back several feet.

Kirishima raised his hands in front of his face in case Deku decided to attack with one of his Smashes. Suddenly, he felt a pressure behind him. He turned, and his eyes widened in shock. Midoriya's foot was slashing through the air right at his face! He raised his arms to block the attack and felt his right arm shudder as it took the blow. A lightning bolt of pain shot through his limb; he took several steps backward, holding his damaged arm. Midoriya was instantly at his side, all thought of attack forgotten.

"Kirishima, are you ok?"

Kirishima cracked a smile against the sudden blinding pain in his head. He made to raise his hand but instead his legs gave out and he sat down hard. After a second, Midoriya sank down beside him. The shorter boy had a look of concern on his face.

"Don't give me that look, Midoriya; I'm fine. Really!"

Kirishima tried to smile but his gasp of pain and grimace told the truth.

"I haven't been sleeping much, lately. Between my head feeling like it's splitting in two and my weight dropping – "

"You're losing weight?"

' _Crap, did I just say that?'_

"….yeah I haven't been eating much either. I'm just not as hungry as I used to be."

Silence.

"Don't tell anyone, Midoriya."

* * *

The two classmates sat on a bench outside of their dorm. They had abandoned the idea of training and opted instead of watch the sun rise over the trees while talking about recent events. Kirishima would never admit it, but he was glad of the break.

"…has Fatgum spoken to you since we saved Eri?"

"Yeah he came to visit me in the hospital. Brought me a huge bouquet of flowers, if you can believe it."

Kirishima and Midoriya chuckled.

"What about you, man? How's you mom holding up after this last fight?"

"Well…she was happy I didn't get hurt as bad this time. But I think hearing about Sir Nighteye made he realize that we could die."

"After all the villain attacks on our class, the most serious injuries have been your own self-inflicted ones. We could make an argument that you're a better Villain than any of them."

Kirishima rose to his feet and looked down at his friend. He raised his clenched fist, this time steady as a rock.

"We can handle whatever the League throws at us.

Tragedy stuck that afternoon. A breaking news story had developed and was being shown on all the channels. A Nomu had attacked the city, apparently targeting Endeavor and Hawks, the numbers 1 and 2 Hero. Kirishima and several of his classmates watched in horror as the entire upper portion of a downtown building was sliced clean off and began to slide towards the street below.

Shouto Todoroki, for all the venom the boy spat about his father, was standing with eyes glued to the screen as Endeavor struggled to contain the threat. In a terrible moment, Endeavor fell from the sky, the left side of his face a mess of blood. The tragic atmosphere lasted for several breathless minutes when all eyes were on Todoroki, his face displaying no emotion except a shocked disbelief. Suddenly, Endeavor rose from the rubble and dealt the Nomu a mortal blow. Todoroki sank to his knees and clasped his hands.

Later, most of the students have vacated the common room except for Kirishima, Midoriya, Kaminari, and Bakugo. No one spoke as each was absorbed in their own thoughts. Kirishima had finally managed to drift off to sleep, albeit an uneasy one.

Kaminari broke the silence.

"Man, how strong are those Nomu things. Endeavor looked like he was just being toyed with."

"That one seemed so much stronger than the one All Might faced at the USJ." Midoriya.

"I'm not even that big an Endeavor fan and I was at the edge of my seat. Man, I wonder how Todoroki is doing."

"Despite everything his father did to him, he was still that worked up seeing him almost die." Midoriya.

"And did you see Momo? She was almost sobbing. I had no idea she was such a big Endeavor fan."

"YOU IDIOT!"

All three boys on the couch, Kirishima being jolted awake, turned towards Bakugo, who had his back to them. He stood up from his chain and began walking towards the doors leading to the lifts. The doors hissed open before he reached them, however.

"Out of my way, Racoon Eyes!"

"It's Mina, asshole!"

"Whatever." Bakugo shoved past the pink girl, thudding his shoulder into hers. Before he walked through the still open doors, he turned back towards the room for one last parting shot.

"Do you really think her tears were for Endeavor?"

With that, he stomped through the door. Mina watched his retreating back until the doors closed, blocking him from view.

Kaminari and Midoriya looked at each other. Neither of them had expected that.

A/N: ok guys, so I have a pretty good idea of where i want to take this. I actually will be drawing on some of my actual experiences for this. So I guess that makes it kinda personal. Anyway, I have the large stuff kinda figured out and I just need to come up with smaller stuff to fill in the gaps. I want to write these characters as believable as I can. So please drop any suggestions for me.  
I am always open to feedback.


	3. Author's Note

Hey fans,

So I wanted to just write a quick blurb for y'all.

I haven't been involved woth the BNHA community for very long. I am caught up with both the anime abd the manga. I love both of them. I love the premise and I love the characters.

Ashido best girl!

Anyway, I wanted to write my own story with the characters. It takes place right after the Cultural Festival and then sort of deviates.

I hope I can write the characters as believable and keep them "in-character" but I honestly have no idea if I am hitting the mark or not unless y'all leave me feedback.

So I really like the character of Kirishima. I feel like I can personally relate to him because he has doubts about whether or not he is in the right place. He is unsure if he is able to become a hero because his Quirk isn't flashy and "cool".

Hopefully this doesn't turn anyone away from the story, but I wanted ro throw him into a situation where he doesn't know what to do.

In American culture, it's unfortunately considered "less than manly" if you visit the doctor too often. Men are expected to be tough and "tough out their problems".

Since Kirishima is so big on being a man, I wanted to use that to explore how he would act in a situation that threatens his manhood/his ability to become a hero (which he sees as manly).

Kirishima's Quirk is Hardening; you could almost argue that his Quirk is like the physical manifestation of "tough" as he can take hits and just laugh them off. But some serious problems are internal and you can't just "punch them away".

And I really like the AshidoXKirishima ship and want to try to make it believable because I seem to be in the minority.

thanks for reading, y'all!


	4. To the Winners go the Spoils

Chapter 3: To the Winners go the Spoils

 _1930, Saturday evening._

To everyone's surprise, Mineta had proven to be Number One Plus Ultra Halo Player. He seemed to have a natural affinity for the game; strategizing, in the context of Halo, seemed to just "come to him". Mineta would never tell the other guys, but he couldn't seem to reproduce this talent during any of their hero training and the very thought filled him with anxiety and self-doubt. Sometimes, he told himself, the identity of "class pervert" was better than no identity at all; at least the girls in his class were noticing him now.

And so, not one of the boys of class 1-A had expected Mineta to pick a respectable restaurant. So, when the miniature grape flavored hero had led them in the direction of a higher-end noodle house, lots of sighs of relief and thumbs-up were shared. In the case of Kaminari and Ojiro, money even changed hands.

Kirishima was seated between Midoriya and Kaminari and feeling almost like he was a new man. His impromptu nap on the couch in the common room of Heights Alliance had seemingly been the best thing he could have done for himself. As he had walked beside his friends towards the restaurant, following the strutting Mineta, his strides had been long and confident, his head held high, his breath came easy and unlabored, and his head was clear.

"So, if Mr. Aizawa used his Erasure on Hagakure, do you think she'd turn visible?" Mineta asked Kaminari, whom he was seated on the other side of. Kaminari swallowed a big mouthful of noodles, gulping them down in his haste to answer.

"Probably. Invisibility is her Quirk, right?" he cast a sudden shrewd eye towards his pint-sized classmate. "…. why?"

"I mean, she'd turn visible and be naked, right? Mineta's eyes began to glaze over. "What do you think her boobies look like?"

"And no more speaking lines for you." Ojiro's tail came up from behind to cover Mineta's mouth. The tiny troublemaker struggled, albeit in vain, angry muffled sounds emanating from him.

"Mmmmmmm mmph mmmm?" (What do you think this is? Some kinda TV show?)

Across the table, Todoroki and Tokoyami were discussing, to put it politely, the fascinating topic of who would win in a fight: All Might or 5 T-Rexes. Tokoyami was pro-dinosaur and he was losing the friendly discussion.

"All Might is too fast. Even if they could hurt him by biting him, they could never catch him."

"Yes, but the five of them could form a strategy to corner him against a wall."

"Dinosaurs don't form strategies! How are we still having this conversation?"

"Yeah, Tokoyami, aren't you the dinosaur guy?" Shoji had entered the conversation. Tokoyami raised an eyebrow.

"Dinosaur…guy?"

One of Shoji's tentacles formed a grinning mouth. He winked one of his main eyes at Tokoyami.

"Well, you're a bird, right?"

At the far end of the table, Sero and Sato were discussing the, ahem, practical uses for duct tape.

"Is that true? Can you wear duct tape like a band aid?" Sato.

"Oh, totally sure! You can also use it a bike helmet."

"I'm sorry, but what the actual heck, Sero?" Ojiro.

"No, hear me out, dudes. My cousin made, like, this 20-layer thick wad of duct tape and wore it one time when he was riding to the store and apparently he ran headfirst into a wall and it…." Sero's voice trailed off as he realized. "Holy crap, that makes no sense! I'm sorry, guys, I forgot my own outrageous lie!"

"How are things at home, Sero? Getting enough to eat? Doing your homework? Anything we need to talk about?"

A roar of laughter interrupted any further protests from Sero. Back down the table, Tokoyami was holding his wrists up to his chest, his hands waving up and down as he did his best baby arm T-Rex impression. He even added his own sound effects in the form of a menacing hiss.

"I can't roar, guys! I'm a bird!"

"HA! He admits it!"

Tokoyami resumed eating his ramen, trying to gain back a smidgen of the dignity that he had lost. He happened to raise his head at the exact right time to see Kirishima rubbing his temples, the redhead's teeth clenched, his free hand clutching the table and shaking, making the closest dishes tingle as they rocked side to side.

"Oh, Kirishima." Midoriya had noticed as well. "Is your head hurting you again?"

And, just like that, Kirishima was the center of attention.

"Dude, I thought you told me that was a one-time thing." Kaminari.

"It was…I mean it is….I mean….thanks, Midoriya." Kirishima spoke through gritted teeth, his eyes still screwed tight. Midoriya sweat dropped.

"Perhaps you should go see Recovery Girl?" Todoroki. Kirishima groaned into this hand.

"The nurse? Noooooooo, man, this is nothing."

"I agree with Todoroki on this one." Shoji jerked one of his tentacles in Todoroki's direction, who eyed it wearily. "It's clear that you're not well."

"Guys I'm FINE!" Silence fell over the table. Even Sero and Sato put a temporary truce on their Who-Can-Eat-More-Wasabi contest (spoilers it's Sato) to glance down the table. "Thank you for your concern, but I. AM. FINE."

"Ok, man, if you don't want to talk about it." Kaminari gave his friend a pat on the shoulder, which only served to send two thunderbolts screaming through Kirishima's head.

"I. Don't."

Suddenly displaying both a surprising consideration for his friend's feelings and complete disregard for tact, Kaminari turned his attention across the table.

"Oi, Todoroki, does Momo have a thing for your father?"

 _2100, Saturday night, Heights Alliance common room_

While she could certainly function without it, Mina loved her new phone. She had cracked the screen on her last phone after she dropped it when Kaminari had stolen up behind her and grabbed her by the hips. That was the day she found out she could run faster than Kaminari.

"Jiro." A shuffle was heard before the annoyed looking eyes and furrowed brow of Kyoka Jiro appeared over the back of a chair.

"Who would win in a fight: Todoroki or five Kaminari's?"

"Todoroki." Jiro's answer came even before Mina's mouth had finished forming the last syllable. Mina held up one finger.

"You didn't let me finish: Todoroki or five Kaminari's who were capable of working together."

"You mean like they had gained sentience?" Jiro pretended to think for a second, rubbing her chin in what she imagined an inquisitive manner.

"Todoroki still." Jiro's head slowly sank back beneath the back of her chair. But Mina wasn't done.

"Jiro, how is Kaminari like a pinky toe?"

When there was no response, Mina spread her arms wide and delivered the punch line in a singsong voice.

"Because he goes whey whey whey all the way home!"

From behind the chair came a muffled snort. Mina raised an eyebrow; unbeknownst to her, Jiro had both hands covering her mouth as she fought the laughter, tears of mirth streaming down her face. Mina's joke had been terrible, but Jiro's mind was running through a rapid-fire montage of _Kaminari's Greatest Hits_ , ranging from that time he went stupid at the USJ, to the time he went stupid outside their dorms when Bakugo had hauled him off into that bush, to the time he went stupid trying to charge up everyone's phones at once.

"Ahem."

Jiro slowly allowed her eyes to drift upwards past the bare pink legs, past the yellow sweater, to meet the gaze of Mina Ashido. Who standing in front of her. And was positively beaming.

" Oh, Jiro! That is so cute!"

Jiro gulped. Busted.

"So, when are you going to tell him?"

"What are you ta- oh no no no no no no!" said Jiro, shaking her head rapidly side to side, as the realization hit her like math problem hit Kaminari.

"Oh yes yes yes yes yes yes!" said Mina, her head bobbing rapidly up and down, at the same time.

The door behind the two girls hissed open, revealing Ochaco and Momo Yaoyorozu, the former of whom was apparently in the middle of an animated story. A squeal of delight sounded seconds before both girls were seized by the acidic girl and hauled over to where Jiro was attempting, unsuccessfully I may add, to burrow into the overstuffed chair cushion.

"Guys, just guess what I caught Jiro doing!"

"Was it involving her earjacks?" Ochaco. Both Mina and Momo shot her puzzled looks before the dark eyed girl spoke.

"Umm no."

"Oh, thank god!"

Jiro's head resurfaced over the back of the chair, but, before she could speak, Ochaco was already explaining herself.

"Hey, Mineta asked the question and I just happened to be unlucky enough to overhear."

The three other girl's faces first displaced looks of confusion, which switched to suspicion, then to dawning realization, and finally to outrage. Jiro lifted on of her earjacks.

"With this thing?" She mimed wincing. "Ow."

The four girls looked at each other's disgusted faces and burst out laughing. Ochaco flopped down onto the couch opposite Mina, who immediately laid her head in the brunette's lap. Momo alone was still standing.

A light _bzzzzz_ was heard; it echoed throughout the large room, on repeat, as Momo pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She glanced at the display and seemed to be taken aback.

"Oh? It's Todoroki."

Momo answered her phone and began, much to Mina's disappointment, to walk to the far end of the room. Sighing, the Alien loving girl turned her attention to her brown-haired classmate, who was absentmindedly twirling her finger around one of Mina's horns.

"Soooo what were you two doing?"

Ochaco let out a mighty yawn; Mina hear the girl's jaw crack and winced.

"Momo was actually helping me with a few costume ideas. I've been meaning to upgrade it for a while now."

Jiro smiled knowingly.

"You mean ever since Midoriya upgraded his." It wasn't a question.

Ochaco knew she was busted. Best to come clean. Own it, girl!

"Yep. Don't want to get left behind!"

"So, have you asked him out yet?" Jiro asked in a "too casual to be real" voice. _'Kinda blunt'_ Mina thought ' _But cuts right to the juicy stuff.'_

She was not prepared to hear Ochaco give a sniffle and certainly had not expected to feel a tear or five fall onto her cheek. She glanced upward just in time to catch the net batch of tears full in the face. Wiping her mouth, she sat upright and wrapped her friend's shaking form in her arms.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I d-d-don't think that will m-matter!" Ochaco sobbed. She buried her face in Mina's shoulder who then loudly cleared her throat in the direction of Jiro's chain. When the dark-haired girl made eye contact with her, Mina nodded towards the brunette in her arms. Jiro rolled her eyes before heaving herself to her feet, shuffling over to the couch, and depositing herself on Ochaco's other side. She began to awkwardly rub her classmate's back.

"I t-thought I'd been so obvious!" cried Ochaco, her voice slightly muffled. Mina increased the pressure slightly, one hand gently running through Ochaco's chestnut hair.

"Ochaco? This is Midoriya we're talking about. That boy wouldn't recognize an 'obvious hint' even if it was from All Might." Jiro clutched her chin again, a slow and lewd smile on her face. "Although…"

"Jiro!" Mina's voice was full of mock outrage. "We are here for Ochaco!"

"You think so, Jiro?" Ochaco extricated herself from the arms of her pink-pigmented peer. Her eyes were red, but they had an almost 'Not-Ochaco' hopeful glint in them.

"Invite him to something…invite him to help you with costume ideas tomorrow! That gives him an excuse to check you out!" Jiro snapped her fingers as she made her point.

Ochaco leaned forward, her hands hidden between her legs, her bottom lip pulled behind her top row of teeth.

"Yeah…that might work." She exchanged glances at the girls sitting either side of her and smiled a sad smile.

"I know you told me to stop apologizing, Mina, but -"

"Ochaco…" hissed Mina in a warning tone.

"But – "The smile began to waver. "I'm tired of being reduced to this blubbering mess every time I talk about him. So –" She took a deep breath "- I'm sorry you guys had to deal with me being a blubbering mess!"

"Oh honey, anytime!" Mina grabbed Ochaco in another tight hug. Jiro sat next to them, her face downtrodden and one hand on the opposite elbow. Mina suddenly extended the hug to include Jiro.

"That's what friends do, Ochaco."

The three deepened their hug, content with each other's company. That is, until…

"Now kiss!"

The three broke apart, knowing full well just _who_ had arrived; sure enough, there stood Mineta, the Grape Hero himself who quickly excused himself with an extravagant (or his idea of extravagant) bow and raced past the couch and towards the door, a fuming Ojiro hot on his heels.

"I SAID no more speaking lines for you!"

"And the boys are back." muttered Jiro, obviously annoyed.

"Heeeeeey, girls!" Kaminari came running up and threw himself into the waiting embrace of the adjacent couch, kicking off his shoes as he did so. He snuggled right up to the edge and treated the trio to a dazzling smile. Jiro grinned right back at him.

"How was your night, Whey Man?"

"Oh, it was ever so wonderful, dearest Jiro."

"Dude, stop talking like that. You're really freaking me out."

Kaminari hung his head before raising it back up, clapping his hands together and extending them in her direction.

"Why must you hurt me?"

"KAMINARI!"

Kaminari jumped to his feet and began putting on his shoes.

"And with that I think I should be hitting the ol' dusty trail."

"You get back here, Kaminari!"

Mono Yaoyorozu swept past the trio, her eyes glued onto Kaminari's rapidly retreating form. Her eyes told the girls that she wasn't taking any prisoners. Kaminari let out a yelp and double-timed it through the door, Momo hot on his heels. Jiro patted Ochaco on the back.

"I love you, but I really want to see Momo lay a beat down on Kaminari. Later!"

Ochaco nodded and allowed her body to lean back into and be partially absorbed by the couch. From her new position, she raised her hand, which barely cleared the top of the couch.

"DEKU!"

"Oh, hey Ochaco. Mina."

Midoriya seated himself on the adjacent couch recently vacated by Kaminari. A second later, Kirishima flopped down beside him. Exhausted as he was, Kirishima was forcing himself to be social ( _Because that's what a man does!)_.

He half-raised a hand in greeting. Ochaco nodded her head in acknowledgement. Mina, on the other hand…

"Hiiii, Kirishima! Did you get my tex – "

"Deku, let's hang out tomorrow!"

Ochaco blurted out the words before covering her mouth with both hands, her eyes as big as saucers, and a shocked look on her face, which was as red as the setting sun had been earlier that evening. She quickly looked at her feet.

"I mean…I wanted to work on my costume…and I know you're really good at this…" She paused, took a breath, and seemed to gain her composure. "So, help me out, dammit!"

"I m-m-mean…if you're s-sure…. yeah, ok."

Suddenly, Mina's phone vibrated in her hands. She glanced at the screen and grinned.

 _Kirishima 3_

 _This is both adorable and awkward. Can we invent a word just for these occasions?_

Mina giggled before quickly typing out a reply.

 _Mina_

 _Adorkward? Shes been pining ovr him all day lol._

 _Mina XOXO_

 _Kirishima 3_

 _Really? Midoriya hasn't mentioned her at all._

 _Mina_

 _U think hell actually take the hint or ask someone to join them tmrrw so they arent alone?_

 _Mina XOXO_

 _Kirishima 3_

 _Knowing Midoriya? Probably invite the whole class. That a new phone?_

 _Mina_

 _Yes! Thx 4 noticing!_

 _Lol do u think he likes girls?_

 _Kirishima 3_

 _You mean do I think he is gay? Nah, just awkward. And who cares?  
Being comfortable with yours sexually is manly!_

 _Mina_

 _Lol u dork.  
_

 _Kirishima 3_

 _Hey, you like spicy ramen, right? I couldn't finish all mine._

Kirishima looked up from his phone, glanced at Mina, who was still engrossed in hers, and caught the tail end of the conversation between Midoriya and Ochaco.

"– and apparently he's barely been eating."

"Midoriya!"

Midoriya and Ochaco jumped. Startled, Mina dropped her phone on the thick cushioning of the couch. She finally looked up to see Midoriya and Kirishima glaring daggers at each other. The latter slowly rose to his feet, swayed a bit, shook his head, and stood tall.

"I told you not to tell anyone!"

"They're our friends!"

"Yeah, but it's my business!"

Kirishima suddenly felt a familiar lance of pain shoot through his temples and into his occipital lobe. He clapped a hand to the side of his head. His other hand was held at his side; as Mina watched, it began to twitch and spasm. Kirishima narrowed his eyes at Midoriya.

"Great. Just when I got rid of it. And now my arm is going too! Just…let me deal with this!"

He pushed past Midoriya and started for the door. Without glancing over his shoulder, he pointed his finger back towards his three classmates.

"Your ramen is on the table there. Night, Mina. Ochaco."

As the doors hissed closed behind their obviously angry friend, Mina spun to face Midoriya.

"First question: What? Second question: the hell was that about?"

A/N alright so this is beginning to get interesting! I'm so excited to start bringing this more towards the idea I had in my head. A big shout out to Myherogal22 (because 4 out of my 5 reviews are from her). But seriously, I'm glad you like this as much as I like writing it.


	5. A Normal night

Chapter 4: A Normal Night

 _2200, 4_ _th_ _floor, Heights Alliance dorm_

Kirishima slammed the door of his room behind him, the reverb echoing slightly up and down the hall. He stood in the doorframe, the palms of his hands against his forehead, his fingers pushing into his scalp, his teeth bared and grinding together.

"ARRRRRRGGGGG!"

With a scream of pure frustration, he crossed to his punching bag and drew back his right elbow; he hesitated a split second before shooting his right arm out, intent on activating his Quirk and driving a hole through the damn bag with his hardened fingers. Instead, he felt a sudden pain as his fingers right angled against the solid material of the bag. A moment of confusion came over him, as if his thoughts were wading through knee high mud, as he tried to bring himself to the correct conclusion; and all at once, it hit him! His Quirk hadn't activated!

Furious, Kirishima quickly took up another boxing stance and flashed out his left fist, this time closing his eyes and concentrating on Hardening his whole limb. His fist struck with a dull _thud_ ; evening without opening his eyes, Kirishima knew his Quirk had failed him again. He raised his open hands, palms up, to his eyes.

"Come on!"

He focused and, for a split second, saw the jagged, rocky exterior of success before his hands reverted to their normal, albeit heavily callused, state.

After a moment, he let his hands drop to his sides. His breath came in rapid gasps, the pounding in his head felt like Bakugo was beating on his skull; his vision blurred and faded to black, prompting a flash of panic to dart across his chest like a bolt of lightning before his world slowly faded back into focus.

The return of his vision sent a wave of relief, although only a brief temporality, flooding through Kirishima even though, deep down, he knew something was very wrong. If anything, the pressure in his head had increased and he could feel bile rising in his stomach. He threw open the door to his bathroom and proceeded to empty his stomach. After he had finished, he swished some water around his mouth before spitting it out. He exited the bathroom, crossed to his bed, and collapsed on it.

Now that his adrenaline was calming down, he truly felt the enormity of his fatigue. He longed for sleep but at the same time dreaded it.

' _Something is wrong! Something is really wrong! I can't activate my Quirk! If I can't use my Quirk, how can I call myself a Hero? I'm going to get kicked out of UA when the teachers find out!'_

' _Why is this happening? I don't see anyone else losing their Quirk.'_

' _I put everything I had into coming to this school! Into becoming a hero!'_

' _How can I hope to help anyone like this!'_

' _I don't…I don't know what to do!'_

Kirishima felt, rather than heard, his phone go off, as he was lying on his side. He laboriously dug his hand, _'my ugly, terrible, normal hand'_ , into his pocket and pulled the vibrating device to view.

' _Mina_.'

' _Shit. What do I tell her?'_

' _Shit. What can I tell her?'_

' _Why did Midoriya have to open his big mouth?'_

' _He was just trying to help.'_

' _He said he wouldn't tell.'_

His phone buzzed once more and was, at last, still; in bright white text the hurt his eyes, the words _Missed Call: Mina….Missed Call: Mina…Missed Call: Mina…_ lazily scrolled across the screen before vanishing once again.

' _Mina.'_

' _Leave me alone.'_

' _Help me.'_

 _2218, fourth floor, Heights Alliance dorm_

 **Thud Thud Thud!**

"Kirishima! Are you home?"

Mina lowered her arm as silence fell once more over the fourth-floor hallway. She unlocked her phone and pressed "call" next to _Kirishima_ and put the phone to her ear.

 _Ring…ring….ring….ring_

The phone went to Kirishima's mailbox, which prompted the caller to "leave a manly message (Mina had a to suppress a grin at that), your name and number, and I will get back to you when I'm free."

Instead of leaving a message, Mina hung up the call and quickly typed out a message, her fingers flying over the phone screen.

She pressed 'send'.

One minute passed. Two. Mina hung her head; the pink skinned high schooler took two small steps forward until her forehead was resting on the smooth metal of the closed door. Unsure of herself, she began to speak, her voice low, her tone even.

"Kirishima…Kiri…I don't know what's going on.

Midoriya filled me in on a lot of stuff.

That boy is pretty darn perceptive. I can see why Ochaco likes him.

I don't…we don't know how to help you."

 _BZZZZZ!_

Mina unlocked her phone.

 _Kirishima_

 _Yep. Totally the only reason Ochaco likes Midoriya.  
Dat sexy perception._

Mina grinned as she read the message. She began to type a response but paused as the door in front of her began to open. There stood Kirishima; he had dark bags under his eyes, his red hair was an absolute mess, and his skin was clammy, but he had a smile on his face.

"For the record, I'm not very perceptive myself."

Mina smiled. And then she laughed.

"We need to talk. Come eat ramen with me?"

She has the hesitation in his eyes, the uncertainty in his facial expression.

"Please?"

He met her eyes. Nodded.

Before he could rethink his decision, she grabbed his forearm and pulled him alone after her and she started down the hall.

 _2230, Heights Alliance common room_

"Midoriya said you haven't been eating, so I had Todoroki heat this up for us."

Kirishima sat down in front of the table; a steaming bowel of ramen was set in the middle. Mina seated herself across from him and busied herself with opening a pair of chopsticks. Kirishima glanced down at the pair in front of him.

"Mina, I'm touched and all, but I'm just not – "

"No! Do not tell me you're not hungry, Kirishima!"

"Well it's the truth."

"You need to eat! A man needs his strength!"

Kirishima clenched a fist in mock fury.

"You would use that against me?"

"Will it get you to eat?"

"Ok but if I throw this up, I'm blaming you."

Mina did a double take. Kirishima winked at her.

"Midoriya didn't mention that?"

Mina lowered her gaze, absentmindedly stirring the bowel of ramen, her chopsticks held in one hand.

"No…"

The pair were silent for a moment.

"You know they were airing live coverage of that Yakuza fight you guys were involved in."

"The reporters didn't start showing up until the end. You guys probably didn't even see half the fight."

Kirishima was staring intently at the ramen bowel as he spoke. Mina cocked her head to the side, gathering up the courage to ask…

"Was…was the rest of the fight as back as the last part."

"….it was bad."

"But you guys totally whooped those villains!" Mina jumped to her feet, her fist raised in a pale imitation of All Might, a heroic grin on her face.

After a moment or two, Mina slowly sank back into her chair. She hesitated and then reached out and placed her hand over Kirishima's. She felt him tense up and then relax. His fingers gave the odd jerk.

"Hey. You won."

Kirishima began shaking his head. He pulled his hand out from under Mina's. He took a deep breath.

' _Tell her.'_

"They…broke me, Mina." His voice, hollow and weak, was barely audible to hear ears.

He heard her gasp of shock, saw her raise her hands to her mouth, felt his own embarrassment at the words he had just uttered. But he forced himself to continue.

"The villain I was fighting…he…he could have killed me. Would have killed me if it hadn't been for Mr. Fat.

I thought I was invincible. The Sturdy Hero: Red Riot."

He slammed his hands down on the table; the ramen bowel jumped off the table and looked for a second like it might upend but it was large and heavy bottomed (yet another Momo creation) and stood upright. Mina, on the other hand, hadn't reacted. He hit the table three more times as he shouted:

"That was stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

And, suddenly, he rounded on the pink skinned girl, jumping to his feet, his chair hitting the floor with a loud BANG!

"Say something!"

"What do you want me to say?" Her voice was quiet.

"Anything!"

Her eyes rose to meet his; he could see the fire in them. Her voice was low and measured.

"Fine. You're right, we didn't see much of the Yakuza fight. But you know what we did see? You. Getting carried away on a stretcher. And did anyone bother to tell us how injured you were? No! Did you bother to reach out to any of us? No! The next time I saw you, you were walking through the front doors!

And what did you say when I asked if you were ok? " _I have a long way to go"_!

And now I hear, from freaking Midoriya of all people, that something serious might be going on with you?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but healthy people don't just lose 6.8 kilograms in only 2 weeks! You're having headaches, you're barely eating, I've seen your arm shaking.

And now? You're acting like Bakugo!

Sit down and eat some food, Kiri!"

Kirishima glared down at the acid-controller, unsure of just how to react. Part of him wanted to yell and scream and vent all his pent-up frustrations, and yet, he stayed quiet. He wanted to punch and kick, to _destroy_ something, yet he stayed still.

Instead, Kirishima bent down and righted the upended chain; he replaced it in front of the table and gently sat down as if he was afraid to cause any more commotion. He reached across, took hold of the bowel, and pulled it towards him. He picked up his untouched chopsticks and, hesitating for a split second, lowered them into the still steaming ramen. He gathered up some noodles and transferred them to his mouth, noisily slurping them. He didn't meet her eyes.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Mina. I didn't mean to yell."

Kirishima took another slow bite, his mouth already on fire from the combination of spices.

"Did you know Hagakure and Ojiro are dating?"

Kirishima, mouth full of noodles, shook his head.

"I guess Ojiro asked her out a couple of weeks ago. I'm honestly surprised Hagakure was able to keep this a secret for so long."

"Ojiro hasn't mentioned anything either. I mean, I don't blame him."

Mina raised an eyebrow.

"Mineta?"

"Mineta."

Setting down his chopsticks, Kirishima pushed the bowel back across the table at his horn buddy.

"Here. You finish it."

In response, Mina shot a look at the redhead that screamed "really?"; she extended both of her arms with her palms up and raised her shoulders slightly (A/N: I'm trying to describe how some people express disapproval).

"Ok, you only had two bites. I've seen you eat, like, five times your own bodyweight before."

"I think you maaaaaayyyyyy be exaggerating. Slightly. Besides, I know you like your ramen spicy."

Mina grinned with one side of her mouth and winked. Kirishima suddenly felt a wave of heat that had nothing to do with the ramen come over him.

"See, I know you're playing me." She reached and took hold of the bowel. "But you're right."

Kirishima watched as Mina slurped up some noodles, took a big gulp, gave a few coughs, and suddenly sneezed. This was quickly followed by two more small sneezes. Despite himself, Kirishima started laughing. Mina, suddenly a little self-conscious, gave him "a look".

"What?"

"You sneeze exactly the same way you did in middle school."

"Is that...bad?"

"No, not at all. It's just, I don't know why you don't just do one big sneeze instead of three little cute ones."

"Continuing on this topic, is there any worse feeling than having a big sneeze brewing? Like, that tickling in your throat and nose?"

"What about when you have a big sneeze brewing and suddenly the feeling just goes away? You go through all that build-up and there's no pay off."

"Oh my god I think you're right!"

The pair shared a few chuckles as each became absorbed in their own thoughts. Finally, ...

"Do you still think about that day?"

"Gonna have to be a little more specific, Kiri."

"You know; when that huge villain was looking for the local hero office."

Mina snapped her fingers.

"Yep! And I remember lying to him!"

Kirishima lowered his gaze.

"Does that...day still bother you, Kiri?"

"Those two girls...your friends...they would have died if you hadn't been there."

"Yeah, I remember you apologizing. Is that still bothering you?"

Kirishima didn't respond. As she watched, he gave the tiniest nod of the head.

"Kirishima, look at me."

The redhead didn't respond. Mina slowly rose from her chair and walked around the table to stand at his side. She took a deep breath, gently reach down, and lifted his chin.

"Those two...I don't talk to them anymore. We got into different high schools and just lost touch. I'm a UA student now; I can't afford to live in the past."

"And neither can you."

Kirishima gently took her hand, which was still placed under his chin, and placed it on the table. He rose to his feet, wavered a little and grabbed the table for support, and took a few shuffling steps away from Mina. He turned to face her, a half-grin plastered on his face. She felt herself smiling back.

"You're right, Mina. We're UA students; the best of the best!"

Mina punched the air in front of her.

"Yeah!"

Suddenly, Kirishima grabbed his right arm with his left hand; his eyes, fixated on Mina's black orbs, now seemed to glaze over as he starred at a point slightly above Mina's head. The pink hero took three steps and was at her friend's side. She grabbed him by the shoulder, giving him a little shake.

"Kirishima?"

He didn't respond; instead, his right arm began to jerk, sending fluttering movements through his entire body. She saw the fingers of his right-hand contract in a contorted manor; after what seemed like an eternity, they relaxed. Mina shook him again.

"Kiri!"

As quickly as it began, it was over. Kirishima relaxed; he shook his head and refocused his eyes on Mina, who smiled.

"Are you ok?"

Kirishima rubbed his temple. Without warning, he yawned.

"Ok, I am beat. What happened?"

"You zoned out there for a minute. Let's sit down." She nodded at the criminally overstuffed and insanely comfortable couch in one corner of the room. Nodding, Kirishima allowed Mina to drag him to the couch, where he collapsed and was instantly absorbed into its folds.

Mina sat down on the edge of the couch; she hesitated and then drew her legs up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"Kirishima, I need you to be honest with me."

She took a deep breath and continued.

"Tell me what's going on."

"Ok, but not a word to anyone.'

In response, she just stared at him, one eyebrow raised.

"...it all started a few weeks ago. I was only having headaches back then, but they seemed to get worse every day. Every so often, my vision would go blurry for a few seconds, but it never lasted. I guess my appetite must have dropped off not soon after, but I never really noticed."

He paused.

"The nausea, vomiting, and spasms are new"

Mina nodded for him to go on.

"I also don't...feel like myself. Does that make sense? Who did you compare me to? Bakugo?"

He laughed.

"I guess that's a fair comparison."

Kirishima sighed; he closed his eyes and snuggled into the couch.

"What is this thing even made of?"

He opened his eyes and fixed her with a piercing stare.

"I guess you want me to go see Recovery Girl as well?"

"Only if a big tough man such as yourself can bring yourself to get some help."

"Ok. I'll go see her tomorrow."


	6. Lazy Sunday

Chapter 5  
A Lazy Sunday

 _The Iron Church gym, 0645, Sunday_

"Come ON! Push it, you bitch!"

Kirishima blow out the rest of his breath as he felt his arms lock out as he extended them fully. After a spilt second, as his arms shook with effort, the bar was thankfully jerked backwards toward the rack as Bakugo did his job as spotter. The redhead felt his abs contract slightly as he sat up on the bench, a bead of sweat running down his forehead. He wiped it away before it ended up in his eye.

After he had promised Mina that he would go see Recovery Girl the following morning, Kirishima had all but passed out on the couch in the common area of _Heights Alliance_. As his racing mind began to slow down and drift off into uneasy slumber, he felt Mina ruffle his hair (a warm, calming feeling ran through him as she did) and he heard the door pneumatically hiss open and shut as she left the room.

Exhausted as he was, sleep did not come easy to Kirishima; his head still felt like it was throbbing, and a shooting pain was very rudely jolting down his right arm, causing his fingers to reflexively curl and cramp.

Sometime later, Kirishima's eyes exploded open; the common room was still in darkness, but his internal clock told him that several hours at least had passed. Kirishima groaned as he rolled partially on his left side and reached his hand into his pocket to reach his cellphone; he awoke the device with the press of a side button and glanced at the screen.

 _0547_ illuminated his face with a green glow, making him look as sickly as he felt inside. A sudden noise made him sit up (his head protested, making him grit his teeth) and peek over the back of the couch.

Although partially obscured in the darkness of the common room, he could make out the figure of Bakugo standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of gym shorts and a light windbreaker; hanging over one arm was a small gym bag. He began to make his way across the room.

"Bakugo!"

The blond powder keg slowly glanced over at the sound of his name. He nodded to Kirishima (a true testament of their friendship) and nodded towards the main doors.

"I'm headed to the gym. You comin?"

Kirishima opened his mouth to answer, but something kept his "Hells yeah!" from passing his vocal chords. After his sparring session with Midoriya yesterday, was going to the gym a good idea? After all, he was finally beginning to accept that something was very wrong and seeing Recovery Girl was a good idea, after all. And…he _had_ promised Mina.

"Oi, you coming, shithead?"

Kirishima winced. _There it was_.

"…Yeah! That sounds manly as hell! Let me throw on my gym clothes!"

"I'm leaving in two minutes with or without your ass."

Laughing to himself, Kirishima jumped over the back of the couch and headed for the door; a minute and a half later, he had brushed his teeth, thrown on a T-Shirt and shorts, and was running after Bakugo, who had NOT waited two minutes like he had promised.

 _The Iron Church_

After arriving at the gym, the two heroes-in-training had stowed their gear, briefly confirmed their workout plan, and claimed a squat rack. The pair worked out in silence that was occasionally broken, often by Bakugo, by insults disguised as encouragement ("Get that bar all the up, you pussy!"), threats disguised as encouragement ("Finish this set strong or I'll kill you!"), and, just, pure psychological torture (Real men are able to finish their sets, Kirishima!").

And now, finishing up his second to last set on the bench press, Kirishima was starting to feel like coming to the gym ' _wasn't such a good idea'._

Like a terrible rerun of an old show, his head was beginning to feel like it may split open at any moment; his vision swam in and out of focus, causing his hands to blur and refocus in front of him and his right arm was contorting.

His breath came in quick gasps; his stomach was in knots.

Without warning, Kirishima's eyes rolled up into the back of their sockets and he pitched forward from the bench, his body already spasming and jerking before he hit the ground, his muscles alternating between stiffening and relaxing.

Bakugo had always had fast reflexes; coupled with a first aid class that he had taken recently, the resident hothead of Class 1A sprang into action. He hurriedly drug his friend's seizing body away from the bench to a section of the gym floor that was clear of any obstacles. He gently rolled Kirishima onto his left side and lifted the redhead's jaw to allow an open airway.

Staying at his friend's side, he yelled over his shoulder at the employee behind the counter.

"Hey, call an ambulance, asshole!"

Turning his head, he saw the petite young woman begin to open her mouth.

"He's having a fucking seizure! Call them now, you bitch!"

Classic Bakugo: what he lacked in tact, he made up for with results for already the young lady was dialing 119.

With a horrible retching sound, Kirishima vomited, a small amount of bile, acid, and partially digested noodles pooling next to his face. Bakugo, unphased, made sure that his friend's mouth and nose were kept out of the puddle.

"Someone bring me a fucking towel!" He yelled to the gym at random.

One was flung at him and he caught it without looking. He draped it, almost lovingly, over Kirishima's mid-region in case the redhead lost bladder continence, something which would only serve to further Kirishima's embarrassment when he woke up.

With a final jerk, Kirishima relaxed and lay still, his breathing beginning to slow as he entered the postictal period.

 _Café de lune, 0713, Sunday morning_

"I cannot believe you have never eaten a beignet, Jiro."

"Eaten one? I don't even know what a 'ben-yay' is. I don't think you understand the diet of non-rich people, Momo."

"Ohhh, they're so good, Jiro! All fluffy and covered in powdered sugar!"

A set of floating clothes was seated next to Jiro, a decorative and expensive jacket, a birthday gift from Momo, covered a sparkly black T-shirt with the words "True Hero" on it. A menu hovered in front of the jacket.

"Hagakure, you're had them before?"

"Well, duh! This isn't my first time coming here; Mina and I try to visit once a week. The coffee here is so good!"

The invisible girl closed her menu and placed it on the table in front of her.

"So, it's decided! We're have beignets and café crème!"

"That means 'cream coffee'."

Jiro glared at the blond who had whispered in her ear and was seated on her other side. She snapped back at him out of the corner of her mouth.

"Yeah, I figured that out for myself, Kaminari."

Kaminari recoiled slightly, a hurt look on his face. Jiro felt a twinge of guilt.

"Sheesh. Just trying to help."

Jiro groaned internally; why was she so mean to him? Outwardly, the musician sighed.

"Kaminari, that was…mean. I…I'm sorry."

"Was that a question or a statement?"

"I'm not good at this, ok!"

Her voice softened.

"I'm sorry. You were just trying to help."

Kaminari was gaping at her.

"Ummmmm, yeah. Geez."

Jiro felt her face go hot.

"You know what? I'm not sorry after all!"

"Calm down, you two!"

Both teenagers turned to look at Momo, who had a stern look on her face.

"Honestly, it's like being out with children sometimes."

Jiro and Kaminari looked at their plates, each feeling some measure of guilt. Their apologies came as one, their voices mingling.

"Sorry."

"I'm sorry, Momo."

Silence.

"Are you ready to order?"

"Yes!" Hagakure.

"Can we please have a plate of beignets and quarte café crème, sil vous plait?"

The waitress rolled her rolls then smiled as she gathered up their menus (hastily collected by Kaminari) after writing down the order.

"We're have it out in a few minutes."

As the waitress walked back towards the counter, Hagakure's embroidered jacket leaned forward over the table.

So, what is everyone doing today?"

"Well, Ochaco wanted some help upgrading her uniform; she asked me for suggestions and we came up with a few ideas last night but we're meeting up with Midoriya later in the morning."

"Oh, I think her uniform is really cute! What does she want to change?"

"She told me she wanted to streamline it; she's going for the whole "space zero gravity" theme but she thinks it's still too bulky."

The invisible girl rounded on her other tablemates.

"What about you, Kaminari?"

"Well, I had a lot of fun playing guitar at the Culture Festival and I was hoping- "

"No."

"What do you mean "no", Jiro? I haven't even said anything yet."

Jiro sighed.

"Ok. Go ahead."

"Well, I was wondering if we could jam out later."

"No."

"Oh, come on! We jammed out every day before the festival!"

"Yeah, with Bakugo and Tokoyami! Never alone! Besides, that was _practice_."

Kaminari rounded on her.

"I know it was _practice,_ but I thought we were having fun together, Jiro. What is it with you?"

As if by some plot device, Jiro was spared from answering by the oncoming crescendo of a siren. The four turned, as one, to the large window at the front of the shop just in time to see an ambulance pull up outside a building on the other side of the street. Paramedics jumped out and began to unload a stretcher from the back before rushing into the building.

Momo was the first one to speak.

"Do you think there was another villain attack?"

"Kinda small scale, isn't it? I mean, why attack a gym?"

Kaminari did a quick double take before hurriedly checking something on his phone. Hagakure put a hand on his shoulder.

"Everything ok, Kaminari?"

Kaminari read something on his phone, swore, and glanced back out the window.

"Damn. I didn't realize it because I've never been there, but that's the gym Bakugo goes to."

"What?"

"Do you think the League of Villains is after Bakugo again?" Hagakure's voice was low and frantic.

"Unlikely." Momo. "They failed to convert him during their last abduction. I imagine they wouldn't waste their time."

"Do you think…Bakugo is hurt?"

"I honestly doubt it. I'm not even sure Bakugo goes to the gym on Sundays."

The four continued to watch the scene across the street as onlookers began to gather around the ambulance and gym. Suddenly, the doors burst open the three paramedics came rushing out, a stretcher being pushed between them. The three loaded the stretcher into the back of the ambulance with practiced precision and speed.

The coffee and beignets came as the siren faded into the distance.

 _Heights Alliance_ , _1000, Sunday morning_

Mina was not a morning person; this was partially caused by her inability, so it seemed, to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. Also, she is a teenager; thems don't go to bed until really late.

Mina knew that many of her classmates woke much earlier than she did; it was no surprise that, as she drowsily made her way through the common room, she encounter more people than she personally wanted to deal with first thing in the morning. A fact she shared with Ochaco, who was sitting at one of the tables with Tokoyami and Ojiro.

"Hardly _first thing in the morning_." muttered Tokoyami.

Mina pointed a finger at him, a phony scowl on her face.

"Hey! Don't push me this early, bird boy."

Tokoyami gulped. Mina burst out laughing.

"Chill out, dude."

She flashed him a pearly white grin and winked.

"But I totally had you going."

"I must admit, you had me quite worried, Mina."

Still giggling, Mina turned her attention to Ojiro.

"Ojee, do you have any big plans for today?"

Ojiro took another bite of his yogurt. He slowly chewed as he answered.

"Nope."

"Are you suuuuuure?"

"Tokoyami and I might spar later. Other than that, nothing special."

"Then you won't mind if I call Hagakure and tell her the date she was _so_ _looking forward to_ all week is canceled."

Ojiro's chewing halted.

"You wouldn't."

Mina held up her phone, one finger hovering a breath from the screen. The name at the top of the screen read _Hagakure_ and the bright green 'call' button pulsed threateningly.

"She told you, didn't she?"

"Every. Word."

"That's fine. She just pays for our date – wait a minute!"

Mina snapped her fingers. She pointed at each person in turn.

"He admits it! You all heard it!"

Defeated, Ojiro returned to his yogurt. Mina smiled at him with sincerity in her eyes.

"Ojiro, she really enjoys spending time with you."

Without waiting for a reply, Mina rounded on her zero-gravity classmate.

"Ochaco, are you ready for _your_ date today?"

Ochaco turned bright red; Tokoyami and Ojiro each raised an eyebrow and glanced at each other.

"It is not a date! He is helping me with my costume! Momo's going to be there as well."

"Oh, a threesome? I didn't know you were into that sort of thing, Ochaco."

Mina winked at the mortified girl and stuck out her tongue.

"Mina!"

The pink skinned girl held up her hands.

"Ok, ok. That was too far."

Tokoyami cleared his throat.

"What exactly about your costume do you want to change? I've always thought your uniform had a very nice design."

"Thank you, Tokoyami. Well, I want to streamline it, make it smoother, you know? And I want to see if Hatsumi can build anything that can allow me to propel myself when I'm floating."

"You know, I've seen that Hatsumi giving Midoriya the eye…." Mina was stroking her chin, a grin etched on her pretty features.

"That's putting it mildly." Ojiro.

"Can we…not talk about Hatsumi, guys?"

"Of course, sweetie. I agree with Tokoyami about your costume. Plus…" She pointed to her black sclera, which clashed with her pink skin. "…I love the color scheme!"

"Out of curiosity, why is Momo joining you?"

"Well, I'm hoping that, after Hatsumi explains the workings of whatever gadget she decides to make for me, that Momo will just be able to make me a new one if it ever breaks."

"Sneaky; that way you don't have to deal with her."

Mina suddenly shifted her attention again.

"So, Tokoyami, I hear you make an _outstanding_ T-Rex! Let's see it!"

Tokoyami obliged and the room rang out with the laughter of the three at the table and several others who were watching. The front door opened and Midoriya entered, his face flustered and his sweaty hair hanging over his eyes.

"Deku!"

Midoriya crossed the common room, grabbing a chair as he did so, and seated himself next to Ochaco (Mina squealed) and gave a nod to all present.

"Hey, everyone."

"Midoriya, I thought you were busy with All Might for the next hour."

"Y-y-yeah, I was. But h-he got a call and had to leave for the hospital."

"The hospital? Did he tell you why?"

"Not really, but he did say the call was from Recovery Girl."

A sudden gasp attracted all eyes to Mina; her hands covering her mouth and a shocked look in her eyes, Mina less resembled an elite hero-in-training in that moment as she did the regular frightened teenage girl that she was. She took a deep breath.

"And he didn't say anything else? Are you sure?"

"Well, on his way out he mentioned something about a UA student…"

Mina let out another gasp and pulled her phone out of her back pocket. She unlocked it and began to type a message, speaking as her fingers flew over the keyboard.

"Have any of you seen Kirishima today."

The group all exchanged glances. One by one, they answered in the negative.

"No."

"Nope"

"Not today."

"Sorry, Mina.

Suddenly, a thought struck Ochaco.

"Mina! I got a text from Hagakure about an hour ago. She and Momo took Kaminari and Jiro to that French café y'all keep talking about."

Mina and Ojiro spoke up at the same time, their voices blended together.

"WHAT? And they didn't wake me up?"

"You mean that place by the gym?"

Ochaco looked thoughtful for a second.

"I mean, I didn't know there was a gym near there but I guess they saw someone get loaded into an ambulance."

Tokoyami spoke next.

"You're thinking it was someone from UA?"

"Well, All Might did say Recovery Girl was calling from the hospital."

Mina rounded on Ojiro.

"Ojee, who goes to that gym?"

Ojiro held up a hand and began listing off on his fingers.

"Not too many of us; there's myself, Shoji, and Bakugo. Everyone else uses the school gym, right?"

"Does anyone know where Shoji and Bakugo are?"

"Shoji came down with me to get breakfast and headed back upstairs a little while ago. As for Bakugo…OI, BAKUGO!"

The five sat in silence. Suddenly…

"The FUCK you WANT?"

Ojiro simply pointed with his tail.

Ochaco put a hand on Midoriya's shoulder, her eyes on Mina.

"Deku, does Kirishima -" Mina's eyes snapped over to meet her own "-go to that gym?"


	7. Can you repeat that?

' _If I ever must make a list of my least favorite things, laundry will easily make the top ten.'_

Sundays at Heights Alliance were laundry days for most of the students of class 1A. A few of the more responsible students, like Bakugo and Momo, could always be found in the laundry rooms on Wednesday or Thursday night, stuffing clothing into one of the many washing machines lining one wall.

Apart from those capable few, many of the students, most of whom were doing their own laundry for the first time, waiting until the very last minute on Sunday night to crowd the laundry rooms and battle for the limited number of machines.

At least, that's _how_ the boys of class 1A had to deal with their laundry situation; true to Mr. Aizawa's word, there were separate male and female laundry rooms. This meant that, even if they all left their laundry until the last minute, all the 1A girls could use the laundry room simultaneously. Each and every one of them was thankful that they didn't have to worry about Mineta cruising for panties like he had threatened.

Stuffing her dirty clothes into one of the machines, Mina knew she was ahead of the curve; at this time of day, the laundry room was empty, she had her choice of machine, and she could actually sing along to the music blaring through her earbuds without anyone very rudely joining in and ruining her solo career.

That being said, Mina did not like doing laundry, like, at all. She was perfectly capable of washing, drying, folding, and organizing her clothes on her own but she simply did not enjoy it one bit. If someone had asked her, she would not have even been able to explain to them why she loathed doing her laundry; maybe it was the fact that she had to fold it and put it away afterward.

Mina absentmindedly threw the last of her socks into the machine and, with a brush of her hips, swung the door shut. She reached for and opened a small tray on the top of the appliance and, without looking, stretched out her hand, expecting to feel the familiar shape of her detergent bottle. Several seconds passed as Mina's hand grasped at thin air before the young Hero, absolutely absorbed in the song blasting over her earbuds, chanced a glance to see where her soap went.

Mina swore; her laundry soap was nowhere to be found: not on top of the washing machine, not in her laundry basket, and not sitting on the floor next to her sandaled feet. Which mean that, _('goddamit'_ ) it was back in her room sitting on her dresser. And so, Mina hung her head, allowed herself one quiet moment of _losing her goddamn mind_ , and slowly walked out of the girl's laundry room on the first floor of Heights Alliance.

Walking into her room, Mina spotted the offending bottle sitting innocently on her dresser, not a care in the world. She stalked over to the dresser, intending to swipe the pesky detergent that seemed to be mocking her, when her buttock let out a sudden vibration, startling her and driving her objective from her mind. She pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jean shorts and unlocked the screen.

 _Ochaco_

 _Ok, so, like, Hatsume is crazy._ _Like, not even "a little". Full on crazy nuts._

Mina laughed to herself before typing out a reply, thinking back to her own encounters with the Support Class student.

 _Calling all her inventions babies?_

 _XOXO Mina_

* * *

 _Ochaco_

 _I WISH that was all she was doing. She's, like, chasing Momo around trying to strap some kinda thing on her stomach._

* * *

 _OMG I need to see this!_

 _XOXO Mina_

* * *

 _Ochaco_

 _She is crazier than usual. And I think Mr. Power-Loader is over in the corner banging his head against the wall._

* * *

 _Hey, do you guys have lunch plans?_

 _XOXO Mina_

* * *

 _Ochaco_

 _Nothing set in stone. Momo and I were going to decide on where to eat after we get away from this crazy person!_

* * *

 _I wanna come! Meet in the common room?_

 _XOXO Mina_

* * *

 _Ochaco_

 _We're actually about done here. Meet in front of the dorms!_

Feeling her mood improve somewhat, Mina grabbed a jacket before practically sprinting out of her room. Behind her, the bottle of detergent sat untouched on the dresser.

 _Hīrōzupan, Musutafu, 1244, Sunday Afternoon_

"Beef buns!"

"Beef buns!"

While the sight of the appetizer was enough to send Mina and Ochaco into hysterics, their more conserved friend merely looked on, a slight smile on her face as she gently ribbed on her friends.

"Sometimes I wonder if they have a name for what is wrong with you two."

"Beef bun-itis!" squealed Mina, her mouth already full of appetizer; not to be outdone, Ochaco stuffed another of the morsels into her already full mouth. Momo rolled her eyes.

"Can you at least finish one bite before you – "

"Can't talk! Beef buns!"

"You two are like children."

Mina and Ochaco looked at each other, mouths stuffed full to bursting of beef bun. Ochaco gave a mighty gulp, shuddered once, and cracked a wicked grin at Momo.

"You take that back or I'll throw a tantrum right here and now."

"Oh, will you? Well I'll tell Hatsume that you ARE interested in the rocket belt and she can get your measurements from Midoriya."

Momo stuck out her tongue to drive her point home. Across the table, Mina scoffed.

" _We're_ acting like children? Also, low blow."

A second later and Mina was all smiles again.

"So, what happened on your field trip to see Hatsume? Was she able to help?"

"Oh, she had more than enough gadgets but most of them either lit my shoes on fire or...weren't what I was looking for."

Ochaco picked gingerly at her last beef bun in a stark contrast to the way she inhaled the previous four; Mina began to sneak her hand towards the bun but Ochaco slapped it away. The acid user rubbed the back and her hand and put on what she thought was a heartbroken face. Wordlessly, Momo passed Mina one of her buns ("Beef buns!").

"Hey, that last invention of hers was promising."

"Ok, granted it was better than the other twenty she made me try, but it still nearly killed me."

"Hatsume did say she would tweak it for you."

Mina's head was rotating back and forth as though she was watching an energetic tennis match between two Czechoslovakians that she had never heard of but whose performance she was enthralled by. She held up her hand.

"Time out, peeps. Ochaco, what exactly do you want a gadget for?"

Ochaco smiled.

"Well, I want to have more mobility, you know? Like, I want to be able to move like Bakugo."

She began to zip her hand around in front of her and making "whooshing" noises.

"Up! Down! Left! Right! Back! Wouldn't that be so cool?"

She leaned forward, her voice fast and excited.

"You remember that jet pack thing that Hatsume made us wear during the cavalry battle? Well, I asked her to redesign one for me; I want to be able to zip around like a wasp on cocaine!"

She took a breath.

"She showed us one that used short bursts of air that could jet out in any direction. Combined with my Zero Gravity, I think I could be just as maneuverable as Midoriya or Bakugo!"

"That's so cool, Ochaco!"

Ochaco gave a genuine smile.

"Thanks, Mina."

Momo picked up her menu.

"Are you two ready to order?"

 _Musutafu downtown, 1330, Sunday Afternoon_

Momo and Ochaco walked side by side along the busy street, the pair discussing their upcoming brainstorming session with Midoriya, their voices slightly raised to be heard over the wind; what had been a light breeze at lunch had increased to a formidable gale. Both girls felt tears form in their eyes as they walked against the howling zephyr.

Mina trailed along behind them, her hands in her pockets, her eyes downcast as her mind played over the events of the past 24 hours.

The sounds of a scuffle broke her out of her rumination; her eyes instantly became alert and scanned around for the cause of the disturbance. She happened to be standing next to the entrance of an alley, a dark corridor set between an athletic store and yet another restaurant. She directed her gaze down the alley and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dim light.

Two men had cornered another, rather smaller, man against the back wall of the restaurant and the three appeared to be arguing. Without warning, the two men blurred into action and shoved their smaller victim up against the wall, the man crying out in alarm.

"Leave him alone!"

Even before she realized it, Mina found herself standing framed in the entrance of the alley, her back to the crowded street. Her shout echoed and reverberated down the valley formed by the high walls of the surrounding buildings. She forced her face into what she imagined a tough and authoritative expression and willed herself to maintain it as both men turned towards her, letting their prey slide down the wall.

The larger of the two men, his face covered by a black bandana tied around his neck, muttered a curse, gestured to his accomplish, who picked the smaller man up off the group and pinned him to the wall again, this time with a knife at his throat. The larger man began to advance on Mina, who, despite her brave initial actions, took a few hasty steps away from the man.

The man came to a halt; he pulled a small handle out of his jacket, and, with the push of a button, extended an extremely dangerous looking blade. He gave a flick of his chin, indicating that Mina should turn around and leave.

Gritting her teeth, Mina steeled herself and summoned up the most authoritative voice she could. Not knowing what to say, she quickly ad-libbed a line.

"I'm a pro-hero! G-g-give up now!"

She inwardly cursed herself for stuttering.

The man in front of her replaced the knife in his jacket with a growl; Mina felt her heart leap at the sight.

' _Is he really giving up?_

Her hopeful thoughts were bashed when the man gave a barking laugh and reached back with one hand and pulled a gun from his waistband. In one swift motion, he drew back the hammer, chambered a round, and leveled the weapon at Mina, who felt an icy finger of terror run through her. His voice was slightly muffled by the bandana as he spoke.

"Not another step, _hero_." He practically spat the word 'hero'.

Mina felt cold sweat break out over her back; she had messed...no...she had royally fucked up. She silently cursed herself, her mind racing for a solution, her eyes darting from side to side.

"I don't know what your Quirk is, hero, but if you try anything I. Will. Kill. You."

Suddenly, all the pluck and fight Mina had felt a second earlier left her; she could feel tears beginning to form in her eyes as she slowly raised her hands in front of her. The man gave another mocking bark of a laugh as he yelled back down the alley to his accomplice.

"Hurry up, man! The Heros are on their -"

That was as far as he got; at that moment, Ochaco dropped out of the sky like an angel from heaven, landing on the man's back. He gave a grunt of surprise and staggered forward but managed to keep both his feet and his grip on the gun. But Ochaco wasn't done.

From the moment she landed, Ochaco had been wrapping a roll of duct tape around the arms and torso of Mina's stunned aggressor. The man seemed unsure how to react; Ochaco quickly dropped down from his shoulders and lashed out with a savage kick to the back of the man's left knee. His left knee crashed to the ground, rapidly followed by the rest of his body as Ochaco kicked his right leg out from under him; as he collapsed, the gun went flying out of his hand and skidded to a halt in front of Mina.

Ochaco bent down and began taping his lower legs together, her hands and arms a blur. When she finished, the man was tightly bound in silvery coils as he flexed his arms and legs, trying in vain to escape. Mina was taken aback by the rapidness of it all; behind Ochaco, she saw Momo calmly standing over the second man, who was bound with a length of thick rope.

Mina's legs gave out from under her and she fell to her knees on the cold asphalt; she began to openly sob, the wind whipping her tears away as fast as her eyes produced them.

Through eyes blurred by tears, Mina finally noticed the gun which sat inches from her left hand; as if possessed, her hand began to inch towards the gun. Her fingers brushed it and her small hand wrapped itself around a grip that was slightly too big for her. The gun wavered as the girl gingerly picked it up and held it in her hand, unsure of where to point it. It was heavier than she imagined.

In the distance, a siren could be heard, growing in volume and indicating that the police were on their way.

"Mina!"

Mina felt gentle fingers wrap around her own; she raised her watery eyes to match gazes with her classmate. Momo had a very serious look on her face but, when she spoke, her voice was quiet and kind.

"Mina. Give me the gun."

For one tense second, neither girl moved, the only sounds in the alley were the muffled threats of the two subdued men and Mina's sobs. At last, Mina felt a tug as Momo attempted to pull the gun away from her; she relinquished her grip and allowed her classmate to take it. Momo began to wipe the gun with a soft cloth undoubtedly created by her own Quirk. After she was done, she tossed it to the ground and allowed it skid underneath a dumpster.

"Mina!"

Momo then slipped her hands under the pink girl's arms and began to pull Mina to her feet; Mina resisted at first, content to kneel on the freezing ground and cry out her relief, but it wasn't long until she regained her composure and allowed Momo and Ochaco, who had ran over to help, to haul her to her feet.

"Mina, we need to go"

Without waiting for an answer, Ochaco tried to pull the acid-user out of the alley but Mina stood firm. Momo tugged at her other hand.

"Listen, Mina, we're not in uniform. If the police get here, we're going to get in trouble.

"Come on, Mina!"

Without a word, Mina allowed herself to be dragged off, her mind still in shambles.

 _Musutafu University Hospital, 0830, Sunday morning_

Kirishima had hated drinking the contrast dye.

Shortly after he was brought to the University Hospital, his mother had arrived; as soon as she saw him, she wrapped him in her arms and began sobbing.

' _Total overreaction.'_ Kirishima thought to himself. Like most teenagers, he felt huge embarrassment whenever his mother gushed over him.

With his mother in attendance, Kirishima had been assaulted with questions by a team of healthcare workers: first a couple of nurses and, a little bit later, a doctor. A lot of the questions were the same, so Kirishima gave the same answers.

What were you doing before the seizure occurred? Working out at the gym with Bakugo.

Was anyone with you when you had the seizure (He rolled his eyes)? My classmate.

Do you have a history of seizure disorders? Does your family? No. No.

Was this your first seizure? I think so; I mean, my friend told me I 'zoned out' for a few seconds last night.

On and on the questions went; as he gave his answers, Kirishima heard his mother give odd little sniffles as she squeezed his arm.

' _Shut up Shut up Shut UP!'_

He described his symptoms to the nurse and then to the tired-looking but friendly doctor who came into the room ten minutes later. He told the doctor about his rehabilitating headaches, the nausea and vomiting, his loss of appetite, his weight loss, the vision changes, the spasming of his right arm and hand...

It all just seemed to pour out of him. After he was done, he kept his eyes downcast, becoming very interested in the fabric of the blanket that was covering his legs. His hands unconsciously gripped the same blanket as he tried to still his racing mind and slow his palpitating heart. He was determined to look at anything that wasn't the doctor or, god forbid, his mother, lest they see the fear in his eyes. Stubborn though he may be, Kirishima was finally beginning to accept the crazy notion that something may just be very wrong with him.

After explaining his position and concerns, the doctor and Kirishima's mother signed a consent form brought in by the same pretty nurse that had initially interviewed Kirishima when he had first arrived. She smiled at Kirishima who only managed a very unmanly nod in return. The doctor clapped Kirishima on the shoulder, shook hands with his mother, and left the room. The nurse, who had been present to witness the signing of the consent, explained to Kirishima and his mother that she was going to put some relaxing medication into his body through the IV in his left arm.

Five minutes later, they brought the liquid contrast for Kirishima to drink. He eyed the liquid apprehensively but, after some mild pestering from his mother ("the doctor said it will help them see inside your head") he begrudgingly choked it down. After he was done, another pretty woman entered the room, introduced herself as the transporter, and explained she was to wheel Kirishima down to radiology.

Outwardly, Kirishima complained that he was perfectly able to walk down to the department on his own; internally, however, he was thankful when the woman insisted it was hospital policy as he was beginning to feel very sleepy due to his ongoing fatigue and the onset of the benzodiazepine.

Kirishima's first impression of the CT machine was that of a big, grey donut. By this time, however, whatever medication the nurse had given him was really taking effect and he was feeling very at ease and even kind of loopy. His mother promised she would be watching with the technician and would see him after the test was over.

The technician, an energetic young man not much older than Kirishima came out to introduce himself; Kirishima liked him. The technician called him "dude" a lot and joked with him and even asked for his autograph after Kirishima, who at this point was in a very good mood, let slip he was from UA.

The technician explained that the CT machine was a small, enclosed space and gave some people claustrophobia. He told Kirishima he needed to lie perfectly still for about twenty minutes and to not be alarmed as he would hear several loud noises.

In total, the process took twenty-five minutes; Kirishima and his mother were taken back to their room and told the doctor would review the images and be in to speak with them. While they were waiting, Kirishima's mother began to pace around the room, an old habit of hers that never ceased to annoy Kirishima. Telling himself that she was just worried, he busied himself with his cell phone and his friends.

Kirishima had been expecting, and secretly hoping for, only a handful of new text messages. He hadn't been able to bring himself to look at his phone since his arrival and he was pleasantly surprised to only see three new messages: one from Kaminari, one from Midoriya (Kirishima rolled his eyes), and one from Bakugo (Kirishima raised his eyebrows).

 _Kaminari_

 _Hey, man. Were you out with Bakugo this morning? A few of us were at the café across the street from that gym he goes to and we saw someone get taken out on a stretcher. He hasn't said a word and everyone's wondering if he killed someone._

Kirishima grinned and returned his eyes to the screen.

 _Midoriya_

 _I'm sorry about what I said to Ochaco last night. I know it wasn't my place, but you're both my friends and I t—thought that she might be able to help. Anyway, I'm sorry._

 _Bakugo_

 _You had better get your bitch ass home from the hospital so I have someone to beat on during training again._

Kirishima sighed; he had expected as much from Bakugo. He locked his cell phone and threw it on the bed between his legs. It was 0830 in the morning and he was already exhausted. He felt his eyelids droop when a faint _knock knock knock_ was heard on the door; the tired looking doctor came into the room. He took a seat and began to review what Kirishima's imaging had revealed. Several times during the explanation, Kirishima felt his mother's hand, placed on his shoulder, give him a faint squeeze.

The doctor finished his explanation and asked if they had any questions. There was silence in the room before Kirishima's mother raised her voice.

"I'm sorry, doctor, but can you please repeat that? You think my son may have a...a brain tumor?"

A/N And so we come to the end of chapter 6! I want to thank everyone who has been reviewing this or giving me feedback in other ways (you know who you are). I am finally getting to the main storyline I have in my head and I am so excited. I want to take a moment and let everyone know that this story is LOOSELY based off of my life and I hope you all enjoyed the "filler" I added to flesh out the characters and/or story.

Please read and review and don't hesitate to tell me if there is something you think I should change or even add.


	8. Internet Stars

_Musutafu University Hospital, 1130, Sunday morning_

To say that Kirishima was shocked when the door to his room opened to reveal All Might and Recovery Girl was an understatement.

Having just woken up, the redhead gave an almighty yawn, his pointy teeth glinting in the late morning sunlight filtering in through the large window overlooking downtown Musutafu; off in the distance, UA stood tall, overlooking its hilltop like a proud sentinel.

Recovery Girl, a nurse to the core, made a beeline straight for Kirishima while All Might took his time approaching the bed. Kirishima's head spun on his shoulders as he turned from one of his instructors to the other.

"Recovery Girl? All Might? What are you two doing here?"

Recovery Girl pulled a small penlight out of her purse; wordlessly, she reached up and used her thumb and forefinger to hold Kirishima's eyelid open as she shined the light into his eye to check his pupillary response.

Behind her, All Might answered for both of them.

"Early this morning, Recovery Girl was alerted that one of our students was being taken to the hospital. She called me soon after she arrived to explain the situation. She also informed Mr. Aizawa – "

Kirishima gulped.

"- who agreed to remain at the school but requested to be kept "in the loop"."

Kirishima breathed a sigh of relief.

"If what Young Midoriya says is true, I'm honestly surprised you didn't end up here sooner. Perhaps that is due to your Quirk's increased durability?"

Kirishima scowled and looked away (Recovery Girl was currently pushing and pulling his hands to test his motor function).

"Figures Midoriya can't keep his mouth shut." He spoke in a low voice, more to himself than the two in the room.

Recovery Girl spoke for the first time.

"You mustn't blame Midoriya. He wasn't the cause of this."

All Might moved closer to the bed, his voice gentle but firm.

"Since the first time I met him, Young Midoriya has always prioritized helping people. It's one of his most admirable qualities. It may not have been his place to voice his concerns involving you, but you must not be angry with him."

He paused before placing a comforting hand on Kirishima's shoulder. Despite his annoyance at Midoriya's actions, Kirishima relished the feeling of security and caring that seemed to emulate from the former Symbol of Peace's touch alone.

"He shall make a fine hero someday."

Kirishima nodded.

"Someday…"

His voice trailed off.

Recovery Girl now rounded on him.

"As for you, Eijiro, why didn't you come to me when these symptoms started?"

(A/N one of the notes I have been given is that I need to stop switching between first and last names and just call the characters by one or the other to avoid confusing my audience. I agree but with certain exceptions: in this case, I cannot see Recovery Girl referring to any of the students with only their last name.)

Kirishima found he couldn't look the school nurse in the eyes. His gaze fell to his blanket; when he spoke, his tone was slow and unsure.

"I didn't want to bother you."

Recovery Girl let out a chuckle.

"Being bothered by you children is my job."

In a millisecond, her voice was serious again.

"Headaches, blurry vision, loss of appetite, weight loss. How could you not think these were serious, Eijiro?"

Kirishima raised his eyes to hers. His mouth opened but no sound came out as he struggled to find the right words.

"I know how you're feeling, Young Kirishima."

Kirishima swung his head around to stare at All Might, who was holding the left side of his chest and looking more downcast than Kirishima had ever seen him.

"Sometimes, it can be hard for a man to ask for help, even when he desperately needs it."

All Might fell silent, leaving Kirishima to ponder his words. Recovery Girl broke the silence.

"We spoke with your mother; she isn't happen about it, but she is willing to allow us to return you to UA."

Kirishima started at the abrupt change of subject but let out a sigh of relief. Recovery Girl smiled.

"Under the condition that I keep an eye on you."

All Might gave a hacking cough; he turned away from Kirishima and Recovery Girl, who glanced at each other. Pulling out a handkerchief, All Might wiped his mouth as he spoke, turning to face the duo again.

"Because of your involvement in that Yakuza business, Young Kirishima, and the fact that the League of Villains is still at large, it is UA's official stance that you, and select other students who participated in that battle, may be directly targeted by anyone seeking revenge."

Recovery Girl nodded.

"Our position has not changed since we made the decision to construct the dorms for our students: UA is the safest place for you young heroes."

"Where is Mom now?"

"She is outside speaking with the doctor. Your mother has signed a release form allowing me to share your medical records with All Might and Mr. Aizawa."

Kirishima nodded. He looked up at Recovery Girl.

"Do you think I could talk to All Might?" He cleared his throat. "Alone?"

Recovery Girl nodded, gave Kirishima a sad smile, and left the room. The door closed quietly behind her, leaving the two shattered men alone with their thoughts.

All Might broke the silence

"What's on your mind, Young Kirishima?"

"Don't tell the rest of the class. And please tell Mr. Aizawa not to either."

All Might didn't speak. Kirishima continued.

"I'm serious, All Might. Not even Midoriya."

All Might raised his hands.

"Of course, I won't say anything."

Kirishima broke eye contact and laid his head back down on the pillow. All Might continued.

"You're afraid they'll reject you when they find out."

It was a statement, not a question. Kirishima propped himself up on his elbows to face All Might again.

"When I began to lose my power, I was also afraid that the Hero community and the public would turn on me."

"When you _began_ to lose your power?"

"Truth be told, my time was already limited before I faced off with All For One."

He turned his back on Kirishima and crossed to the window, gazing across the city at the gleaming main building of UA High.

"I was the Symbol of Peace. How could I tell anyone that my power was failing?"

 _Heights Alliance dorm laundry room, 1445, Sunday Afternoon_

"Mina, slow down! Aren't we going to talk?"

Mina increased her walking speed, trying to outpace the two girls following close behind her. After a mostly silent walk back to the campus, she had bolted through the doors of Heights Alliance, past the few people lounging in the common room, their 'hello's falling on deaf ears, and straight up the stairs to the fourth floor. She threw her room door open and grabbed her bottle of detergent with a furious grip.

Several minutes and three flights of stairs later, she stalked into the laundry room, her two classmates hard on her heels. Mina halted in from of a machine and peeked inside; there was her laundry, untouched and still dirty. She hurriedly poured some of the thick liquid into the tray and started the cycle.

From behind, Momo's voice drifted over the sound of the washer.

"Mina! I really think we should talk about what happened."

Mina didn't turn around.

"You know, I was on my way to grab my detergent when Ochaco texted me; I could have had all of this done if I wasn't so easily distracted."

Momo and Ochaco exchanged confused looks.

"What are you talking about, Mina?"

Mina spoke in a loud voice, seemingly trying to drown out the words of the two behind her.

"When I was younger, my dad used to think I had some kinda attention disorder."

"Mina, I don't see what this has to do with what happened."

"I guess it's a good think I got my attention under control or else I probably would have failed by now, huh?"

Ochaco took a step towards her pink friend.

"Mina, about what happened out there – "

"That was the first time I've ever had a gun pointed at me."

Silence fell over the laundry room; a silence that was broken only by the rumbling agitation of the machine. Mina was resting her hands on either side of the washer; her head and shoulders slumped over.

She hesitantly turned to face her two friends. Her eyes were down-turned and beneath each dark orb was a slight run of mascara. Mina gave another sob and slowly slid down the front of the machine to end up sitting at the bottom with her back against it. She hugged her bare legs and buried her face behind them. Her body shook as she cried, her sobs muffled against her thighs.

"I t-thought h-he was g-going to k-kill me!"

There were twin thumps as both her friends plopped down on either side of her; Mina felt a reassuring hand on her back and looked up to see Ochaco smiling down at her, tears forming in the brunette's eyes.

Mina launched herself at her classmate and tucked her face into the crook of Ochaco's neck; she wept openly as Ochaco held her and rubbed her back. She felt Momo grab and squeeze her hand and she answered with a squeeze of her own.

"I'm so sorry, Yaomomo! I w-was scared and I saw the gun...h-he made me f-feel so helpless!" Mina's voice rose several octaves as she spoke.

"Mina, there's nothing you need to apologize for. No one knows how they are going to react in a situation like that." Momo.

"Seeing you with that gun was really scary. You didn't even look like the same person." Ochaco.

Mina began to mumble further apologies into Ochaco's neck as a fresh wave of tears splashed onto the brunette's shoulder. Momo shot Ochaco a glare of disapproval.

"Hey hey! I didn't mean anything by it!"

"Do you really think that's what she needs to hear right now?"

"H-how can I-I call myself a H-H-Hero? I think I w-wanted to k-k-kill him!"

"Oh honey." Momo wrapped her arms around both Mina and Ochaco.

The three sat in silence on the floor of the laundry room for the next five minutes before Mina felt able to detach herself from her friends. She wiped her eyes, sniffled a few times, and raised her head. Her voice shook as she spoke.

"You two were so fantastic out there."

Momo blushed; she was still unused to praise. She brushed a loose stand of hair behind her ear.

"Everything was Ochaco's idea, actually. We heard the shouting but neither of us saw the gun until the end."

She hung her head and lowered her voice.

"Honestly, any one of us could have been killed had that gone badly."

Mina gave a small chuckle that sounded closer to another sob.

"Oh man, I really screwed up, didn't I?"

"No, you were really brave! Don't tell Deku, but you're totally my hero right now!"

 _Heights Alliance common room, at the same time_

Anyone who spent more than five minutes with Kaminari knew that he was a "go-with-the-flow" type of person. It was rare that he took anything too seriously; that being said, he did know, to an extent, when a situation demanded seriousness.

Sunday afternoon in the dorms was not usually one of those times; today was no exception as most of the class had finished their homework, including a particularly brutal essay for Present Mike, and were just looking to relax and converse.

Kaminari was sitting at a table in the corner of the room browsing the internet, his eyes occasionally drifting over the screen of his laptop to sneak a quick peak across the room where Jiro was sitting; at first glance, it appeared the musician was alone but anyone in the class could spy the floating sweater that didn't appear to have a head and knew at a glance that she was talking to Hagakure.

The blond returned his eyes to his laptop screen and shook his head to dislodge any lingering thoughts.

"Just ask her out, man." He muttered to himself. "Maybe to a concert or something."

"You say something, Kamanari?"

Off to the right, Mineta was sprawled out on the couch, his eyes fixated on the small screen of his Nintendo DS. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he worked the controls. A second later, and he tossed the device aside and swore loudly.

"FUCK! Fuck the Azure Rathalos!"

Kaminari shot a cocky grin over at his purple-haired friend; Mineta caught the grin and tossed it right back.

"Having trouble, Mineta?"

"Fucking Rathalos won't get out of the air. He just hoovers like an asshole and I can't hit him at all."

Flash bombs?"

"You think I haven't tried that?"

"How far did you get?"

"I was able to tail him (cut off the tail) but he keeps knocking me back with wind pressure and shooting fireballs in my face. Can you please just go get your DS, so I can level up my armor?"

"Yeah, sure thing, man."

As Kaminari was preparing to shut down his laptop, a video link at the bottom of the screen caught his eye; he scrolled down the full title came into view: UA Students Destroy Muggers.

His interest peeked, Kaminari clicked on the link, which opened into a slightly shaky video file; it appeared to be shot on a cell phone, which meant the quality was slightly better than ass. Kaminari watched about thirty seconds before calling out to his friend.

"Hey, Mineta, check this out."

Kaminari scooted his chair back from the table to allow Mineta, who grabbed a chair of his own, to slide up right next to him. Together, they watched the shaky footage; whomever was filming appeared to be across the street from an alley, their camera centered on three men, two large and bulky, and a third relatively smaller who was cornered against a wall. Occasionally the person filming would add some commentary, but he or she (Kaminari thought it sounded like a guy) was mostly quiet.

"Is anyone going to stop this?" The videographer asked. "We're practically down the street from UA, aren't we?"

Suddenly, a flash of pink blocked the shot; the uploader quickly zoomed out to review a girl with pink skin; Kaminari and Mineta exchanged a look before focusing once more on the screen. They watched the action in shocked silence, which was broken by an occasional gasp or comment from the videographer.

When the short clip was over, Kaminari and Mineta wasted no time in gathering up everyone spread out over the common area. Before long, a group of seven students, Kaminari, Iida, Mineta, Sero, Jiro, Hagakure, and Sato, were gathered around the laptop screen.

As they watched the clip unfold, they added their own commentary.

"Man, Mina didn't waste any time confronting them, did she?" Sero.

"Pretty gutsy of her." Jiro.

"Why is she just standing there?" Sato.

"What is Ashido doing? She's not in uniform!" Iida.

"Wait, is she surrendering? Do you think that's part of her plan?" Hagakure.

"Oh shit! Did you see that?" Sero.

"Ochaco's got some moves, right?" Mineta.

"She's better than you, Whey Man." Jiro.

Kaminari shot a glare at her, but she was watching the screen and missed it.

The clip ended as the three girls began to run out of the alley. The motley crew all stepped back from the screen and began to discuss what they had seen.

"I must say, I can understand Ashido and Uraraka acting recklessly, but Yaoyorozu should know better than to confront villains in her civilian clothes."

"Oh, lighten up, class prez. That was seriously badass."

Iida winced as Sato slapped him on the back. Sero added his two cents.

"I had no idea Ochaco could move like that. She wasn't kidding when she said she wanted to take her training seriously."

"Mina was really brave, don't you think? Acting as a distraction like that?" Hagakure squealed.

Jiro nodded.

"She kept the villain's focus on her while the other two got in position. It was a solid plan."

"It's too bad I hadn't been there. I would have shocked those two villains into the stone age!"

Kaminari winked at Jiro, who rolled her eyes.

"And then who would have saved your dumb ass from the third guy, genius?"

Kaminari pointed his finger at Jiro in mock outrage.

"Rude!"

"Yeah, whatever, dude."

Ten minutes later, several of the extras (as Bakugo would have called them) had left to start their own loads of laundry. Two of the remaining five, Kaminari and Jiro sat on the same couch, albeit on opposite ends. Kaminari had since ran to his room and grabbed his DS and he and Mineta had started a local multiplayer game of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. Sero was watching Mineta's screen over the small boy's shoulder.

"Ok, what Hunter Rank are you?"

"6. The only key quest I did was Brute Tigrex."

"What do you need for your armor?"

"For my high rank set? Nothing. I just want to get to G to get higher defense armor."

"Stygian Zinorge?"

"Start a quest."

Jiro couldn't help herself: curiosity overtook her; the musician slowly leaned her body towards Kaminari to better see what he was doing. The blond didn't notice his classmate getting closer and closer until she spoke.

"What are you morons doing now?"

"Ahhh!"

Kaminari fell sideways against the armrest of the couch. He threw Jiro a reproachful look.

"Do you just not understand the concept of 'asking nicely'?"

Jiro fainted being taken aback.

"I'll have you know that I am very nice, Kaminari."

"I mean, this is probably the first time you've called me by my actual name in the last two weeks. But, sure, nice."

He made no attempt to hide the disapproval in his voice.

Jiro lowered her gaze and did her best to win a staring contest with the floor. Lately, teasing Kaminari was just not as fun as it had been.

Something, she wasn't sure what, had changed between the two of them. She bit her lower lip and raised her eyes to meet his. She was surprised to find him still staring at her, undoubtedly waiting for an apology.

"I...I didn't realize it bothered you so much."

Her words hit Kaminari in the face harder than even Bakugo could. He tried to choose his next words carefully.

"Am I a joke to you?"

"What? No, not at all."

"GUYS! IS THIS REALLY THE BEST TIME?"

Mineta's shout broke the tension crackling between Kaminari and Jiro. The former gave the latter a disapproving look and picked his system back up and shifted his focus to the screen. After a few seconds, Jiro rose from the couch and crossed to a couch on the far side of the where Hagakure was sitting. Kaminari didn't look up as she walked away.

With a sigh, Jiro threw herself down on the soft leather and laced her hands behind her head.

"I think…Kaminari's actually mad at me."

SLAM!

The four looked towards the front door to see who had arrived. Kaminari raised his hand and shouted to the newcomer.

"Kirishima! Perfect timing, dude!"

He glanced apologetically at Mineta.

"Let's abandon the quest and see if we can get Kiri to play with us."

He turned back to Kirishima.

"Come over for a second. I want to show you this video I found."

Kirishima shuffled his way over to the couch and threw himself next to his friend; Kaminari picked his laptop off the floor and opened the screen. He ran his finger over the touchpad, woke up the screen, and entered his password.

Kirishima watched the video in silence. While it was playing, Jiro and Hagakure made their way over and stood behind the couch, their eyes also watching the screen.

Kaminari spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. He passed the laptop to Kirishima, jumped up, and ran over to his three classmates who had just entered the common room.

"Hey, you guys are famous!"

Momo fainted ignorance.

"What are you talking about, Kaminari?"

Kaminari raised an eyebrow.

"Duh! You guys are all over the internet! Come and check it out!"

He led the three back towards the couch. Kirishima replayed the video; the three watched the footage in silence; inwardly, however, each was approaching a different level of anxiety.

Mina cursed herself.

' _Oh man, that was so dumb. OF COURSE someone was filming us.'_

When the video clip was over, the three glanced at each other as their classmates began to fire questions what them.

"Where did you learn moves like that, Ochaco?" Sero.

"Which one of you thought up that awesome strat?" Jiro

"Mina, you were so brave acting as a distraction like that." Hagakure

Mina felt her eyes well up; she covered her mouth with one hand so the others couldn't see her lips wobble. Ochaco laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Yep, that's me." She spoke in a broken voice a touch too high to be her own. "Fearless distraction."

"Why didn't you finish that guy with an uppercut like you did to Ayama in the sports festival."

Mina was silent; she began to shake as she remembered the emptiness in the mugger's eyes and the steel in his voice when he proclaimed that he was going to kill her

"I needed to act like I was giving up. It was...part of the plan." She managed to choke out, a fake smile on her face.

Kaminari turned to Kirishima.

"So? What did you think, dude? You're not the only badass villain fighter in the class anymore."

Kirishima leaned his head backwards against the back cushion of the couch until he was looking at Mina, who appeared upside down to him.

"Mina's been brave ever since middle school."

"You two went to the same middle school?" Mineta had joined the conversation.

Kirishima nodded.

"Oh! What was middle school Kirishima like, Mina?" Hagakure (of course).

Mina, while still shaken up over the events of the last few hours, managed to give the invisible girl a glowing smile that wasn't totally reflective of how she felt inside. With one hand, she reached down and ruffled Kirishima's hair.

"Cooler."

Sero, Jiro, Mineta, and Kaminari burst out laughing while the rest managed weak chuckles. Mina glanced at the ceiling for a second.

"He also had dark hair."

Sero whistled.

"I cannot, for the life of me, picture you with dark hair, dude. Why the change?"

Kirishima closed his eyes; he was still quite tired even after his snooze at the hospital. Plus, the feeling of Mina running her fingers through his hair was _very_ relaxing.

"It was just time for a change, you know?"

Mina raised her other hand and pointed at her own head.

"Plus, we're Horn Buddies now!"


	9. All he does is sleep

_Undisclosed location  
1530, Sunday afternoon_

Tomura Shigaraki was in a simply fantastic mood. The villain was currently sitting in a dingy little bar, a glass of water occupying the table in front of him. In his hand, he gingerly held a small dart between thumb and forefinger; he twirled it and marveled as the smooth edges caught the light.

Across the room, a young man leaned against the wall, his arms folded, a scowl on his face; Dabi was, in contrast, in a very _unfantastic_ mood. He had been cooped up in this dank hole in the ground for what felt absolute ages, his only distraction being television, the occasional call from the traitor hero Hawks, or the infrequent but extremely satisfying exchange of verbal insults with Toga or Shigaraki.

' _Just why is that little psycho allowed to go outside while I'm not?'_

' _Shigaraki had better have an amazing plan or I am going to cremate him.'_

Dabi smiled to himself, as he always did when he thought of taking someone's life. Once, he had been someone else, someone who never would have even entertained the thought of ending another life. The old Dabi had been weak; he had burned that part of himself to dust a long time ago.

His reminiscing was cut short by the arrival of two people he thoroughly despised even more than Shigaraki: a pretty, smiling, blonde young women and a tall man with dead eyes and spikey hair. As soon as they were through the door, the blonde let go of the man's hand (Dabi could almost hear Twice's groan of disappointment) and rounded on Dabi.

"Dabi! Guess who we saw out in the city, Dabi! Guess who we saw!"

"Haven't the foggiest, Toga." Dabi said in a flat voice; he was having trouble imagining anything more boring than this conversation.

"We saw Shotooooooo!"

Toga dragged out the last syllable of the name in a singsong voice. Dabi immediately locked eyes with the little psychopath. Toga continued, obviously missing the steam rising from Dabi's fingers.

"He was going into the hospital downtown and -"

"And you left him alone."

Exasperated, Toga turned away from him and threw up her hands in frustration.

"Yes! We left him alone! Although I think it would have been fun to cut him up and give the pieces to his daddy the big bad Number One."

Dabi _almost_ moved, _almost_ reacted. Instead, he forced the scowl off his face and shot a grin at the unhinged young woman.

"Hey, do whatever you want, what do I care? But you screw this up and the boss will murder you."

He poked a finger in Shigaraki's direction, who had his back to the trio but was obviously listening.

He didn't feel the need to explain it to the _help_ , but Tomura Shigaraki had a plan.

 _Heights Alliance  
1600, Sunday afternoon_

"Oh shit! What do I do what do I do what do I do?"

"Heal, man! Drink a potion!"

"NO! Not there! Leave the area, dude!"

"Crap, he hit me, I'm so dead!"

"Ok, he's focused on me! Get out of here, dude!"

"Oh noooooo he's following me!"

"He's headed to area 1! Stay here and heal!"

Mineta, Kaminari, and Sero sat on a couch in the corner of the room, their eyes fixated on their screens. Mineta and Kaminari, two of the three present Monster Hunter veterans, were introducing the series to Sero, who had expressed interest in joining the two on their hunt after watching Mineta for the past half an hour.

Kirishima, after being propositioned to join their party by Kaminari, had ran upstairs to his room, taking the stairs two at a time, grabbed his DS, and jogged back downstairs to join his friends. To his dismay, even that short burst of energy had been too much for him.

Ten minutes later, Kirishima was softly snoring while draped across another of the plush couches; after throwing his handheld console to Sero, the redhead had deposited himself on the half of the couch not occupied by Mina and Hagakure. Unbeknownst to him, the girls had been forced from the couch as he attempted to stretch out in his sleep.

The girls had quickly vacated said couch only to flop down next to Jiro on an adjacent couch.

Suddenly, Mineta dealt the final blow and the three Monster Hunters breathed a collective sigh of relief as "Main Objective Complete" flashed across their screens. Sero slapped Mineta a high five.

"Dude, this game is sweet! Why didn't I know about this?"

Mineta shrugged.

"Kaminari and I play all the time. Standing invite to join anytime, man."

"Who else in the class plays?"

Mineta began counting off on his fingers.

"Well, there's me and Kaminari obviously, Kirishima, Sato, Tokoyami, Bakugo – "

"Bakugo? No way!"

"Yeah, he doesn't play very often but he gets way into it."

Sero glanced over at the couch where Kirishima was dozing.

"I guess I need to get my own system; can't keep borrowing his."

Mineta jerked his finger at the sleeping redhead.

"Why IS he sleeping anyway? It's only 1600."

"He told me he was up pretty late last night."

Both boys glanced over at Kaminari as he spoke; the blond was aimlessly pressing buttons on his DS, his face expressionless. Sero nodded, accepting this as a perfectly valid reason for their friend's exhaustion, but Mineta knew Kaminari better.

"You ok, man?"

Kaminari met Mineta's gaze and jerked his head in Jiro's direction. Mineta nodded in understanding.

"Same thing we were talking about earlier?"

"Yep."

"Just talk to her about it, man."

Sero, sitting between his two classmates, was glancing back and forth with a confused expression on his face. He held up a finger.

"Can I get some background here?"

"Kaminari is having girl problems."

"…"

"Ok, time out. So, you're having girl problems, Kaminari, and you're going to Mineta for help?"

"Why is that surprising?"

"Well, I mean…you're not exactly a lady's man."

"And you are, dude?"

Kaminari yet out a whistle.

"Ouch. Gonna need Todoroki for that one."

Sero nodded his head.

"Solid burn, dude."

He turned back to the blond.

"Seriously, what's going on with her?"

Kaminari didn't look up from his DS.

"You guys wanna do Zamtrios next?"

Mineta, who was sitting on the, his back against the couch, gave Sero a playful punch on the leg.

"Gotta get Sero up to our level somehow."

Chuckling, Kaminari quickly created a quest; the other two immediately joined, ate a quick in-game meal to boost their stats, and the trio was off.

"Hey, what are Hot Drinks?"

"You drink them to avoid losing stamina when it's cold."

"Ahhh."

"So, what is going on between you and Jiro, dude?"

"Kaminari's totally crushing on her."

"Dude!"

"Hey, I'm just repeating what –"

Kaminari cut him off.

"I did not say I was crushing on her."

"Crushing on who?"

Kaminari let out a yelp; he raised his eyes, saw Jiro still sitting and laughing with Mina and Hagakure, felt his anxiety laden brain begin to relax, and breathed a sigh of relief when he recognized the voice as Todoroki's. The other two were quick to greet their classmate as he seated himself between Sero and Kaminari on the couch.

"What's up, Todoroki?"

"Heya, Icy Hot."

Todoroki scowled.

"I really hate Bakugo."

Sero patted him on the back.

"We know, bud."

His gaze fell on the game console in Mineta's hands.

"Monster Hunter?"

Sero nodded.

"You a fan?"

"Well, I've never actually played, but my big brother is obsessed. He actually got me the game –"

"GO GET IT, MAN!"

Kaminari winced at the volume of Mineta's shout; across the room, the three girls put a halt on their conversation and cast identical curious glances over at the now cadre of Monster Hunters, all of whom stared right back with similar "deer in the headlights" expressions. Kaminari awkwardly waved, trying to dispel the tension.

Jiro caught his wave and flashed him a dazzling smile and an unwarranted middle finger.

(A/N; just for context, think of that scene in Spiderman Homecoming, if you've seen it, when MJ sees Peter through the door at the dance and gives him the smile and middle finger.)

"Oooooooooohhhhhhh. I see it now." Sero.

Todoroki looked from Sero to Kaminari, the latter still glaring over at the musician, who had returned to her conversation. After a second, he nudged Mineta with his leg, who answered without looking up.

"Kaminari's having girl problems."

"DUDE!"

The blond let out a sigh and turned to Todoroki.

"All the girls like you, man. Help me out here."

Todoroki hesitated before answering.

"I don't know if I can help you, Kaminari. I'm about as clueless as you, I'm afraid."

Across the common room, Jiro, Mina, and Hagakure were having their own crisis. Well, more accurately, Jiro and Hagakure were having the crisis while Mina found herself a role as a bystander.

"Jiro, have you done the homework for Mike's class yet? I tried to start it, but I have no idea where to begin. It's all gibberish to me."

Hagakure's tone made it clear that she was wearing a frown on her invisible face. Jiro gave her a soft, sympathetic smile.

"I don't know how much help I can be because I'm probably just as confused as you are."

She nudged the pink skinned girl sitting beside her.

"And we both know Mina hasn't got a clue."

Hagakure chucked.

"I never ask Mina for help."

Hagakure threw an invisible arm around Mina's shoulders and laid her head against Mina's.

"You know I love you, Pinky!"

Mina gave no response nor indication that she had heard. Hagakure moved her hand from Mina's shoulder to her back, giving it a little rub.

"Everything ok?"

Mina gave a small, distracted sort of nod. Hagakure looked over at Jiro only to see a look of concern on the other girl's face. Jiro opened her mouth but was cut off when Mina spoke, her voice low and serious.

"I need to tell you guys something."

Feeling the muscles of Mina's back tense up, Hagakure resumed her one-handed massage. Unbeknownst to her friends, she had been taken a few free massage clinics before coming to UA and was always looking to apply her, rather, modest skills.

Jiro, who was not as accustomed to physical contact, awkwardly laid her hand on Mina's knee. When the alien girl didn't immediately brush it off, Jiro relaxed slightly and leaned closer to her friend.

Mina took a deep breath and began to speak.

"I always knew I wanted to be a Hero ever since I was little. I remember skating around on my acid and pretending to beat up bad guys."

Not sure where the story was going, Jiro and Hagakure sat silently, waiting for Mina to continue, which, after a moment, she did.

"A few of the bigger kids at my middle school were bullies. They picked on the kids who couldn't stand up for themselves, ya know?

One day, I saw this guy picking on one of the smaller boys in the school; he kept tripping him and pushing him over when he tried to get up.

Something inside me must have snapped, because I punched him right in the face.

He ran away crying and the boy he was picking on thanked me and everyone was telling me how awesome I was but all I could think about was that I had hurt someone."

Mina took a deep breath.

"I kept telling myself that he was a bully and deserved it but that didn't help.

That kid didn't pick on anyone else for the rest of the school year. He didn't have many friends to begin with, but I think the couple he had stopped hanging out with him after I punched him.

I remember seeing him sitting alone in the lunch room every day after that."

Mina leaned forward.

"A few weeks later, a couple of guys in my class were harassing another kid, trying to get him to go somewhere with them. I remember being so angry with them; I went over to shout at them to let the kid go. They tried to argue with me and I started dancing."

Mina laughed to herself.

"I don't know what came over me, but it worked. They all started dancing with me and then we went our separate ways. No one got hurt."

"So I'm thinking 'great, maybe this is how I can help people'. I went out with my friends later that day."

Mina's voice began to speed up.

"We were just shopping and I went off on my own and suddenly my friends are screaming and I turn around and there's this big guy standing over them and yelling at them to tell him where the local hero office is and I'm trying to bring myself to jump in front of them but I can't move and I remember thinking 'I can't get this guy to start dancing with me' and finally I run in front of them and lie to him about where the hero office is."

Mina took several breaths.

"It was so scary but it made me realize that saving people was something I really wanted to do. I was already planning to apply to UA at the end of that year but that night I went home and wrote UA at the top of my list."

"I've met so many wonderful people since starting here and learned so much about being a Hero. Getting my Provisional Hero License was like a dream come true; I think I texted a picture to everyone in my family. One step closer to becoming the kind of Hero who protects everyone, right?"

Jiro had a sudden flash of inspiration.

"You're talking about that internet video Kaminari showed us, right?"

Mina nodded.

"I didn't think or scout out the situation. I just rushed right in when I saw someone who needed help. Everyone thought I was really brave, acting like a distraction for Ochako and Momo, but I totally forgot about them."

Mina paused for a second, gathered her strength, and continued.

"One of the villains in that alley…pulled a gun on me and told me he was going to kill me."

Hagakure gasped. Jiro gave a double take. Mina felt her eyes mist over.

"If Ochako and Momo hadn't come up with a plan, I…"

Mina inhaled through her nose, held it, and then blew it out through her mouth.

"I…might not be here right now."

On the boy's couch, Todoroki had just finished discussing Kaminari's...situation with the other three. After confiding in his three friends, Kaminari had decided on a course of action to take with Jiro.

A snoring sort of grunt interrupted the friends as they continued to rib on their blond classmate; Todoroki was quick to locate the source of the noise.

"Kirishima's sleeping again?"

Sero and Kaminari exchanged a glance. The former sheepishly held up the console he was clutching.

"This is his. I don't have my own, so he let me play on his while he slept."

"I see…he wasn't feeling that great at dinner last night. Still not better?"

"Kaminari told us he's been feeling like crap for the past few weeks, actually." Sero said, his eyes downcast.

"Is that so?"

Kaminari dropped his voice.

"Yeah. I'm started to get really worried about him. I've tried to talk to him about it, but he gets angry whenever I bring it up."

Todoroki rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner.

"I wonder if Mina had any luck."

"Mina!"

"Why would you think that, dude?"

Todoroki shrugged.

"She asked me to warm up the ramen he brought back for her and when I asked why she said, "I'm going to force Kirishima to eat!" before running off."

Mineta gave a snort. "Kirishima is so lucky he has a babe like Mina to care about him."

Todoroki glanced down at the grapelike hair of his classmate.

"You sound bitter, Mineta."

"The girls in this class hate me."

Sero began to laugh. Mineta glared at him.

"I'm sorry for laughing man, but can you honestly blame them?"

Mineta looked quite like he wanted nothing more than to hit Sero, but instead his shoulders slumped.

"…no."

He raised his head back up.

"I just want people to like me."

"Well, dude, we like you."

"I know, but…"

"Oh, we're not good enough for you?"

Mineta did not answer; this gaze, however, gave him away and he starred longingly over at Mina, Jiro, and Hagakure.

Todoroki cleared his throat.

"Mineta, everyone struggles with this. It's not just you."

"Shut up, turd-face. You're only saying that because everyone likes you."

Todoroki rolled his eyes.

"I can promise you that when school first started, no one liked me."

The other two were quick to back him up.

"I didn't like him!"

"I thought you were an asshole, Todoroki!"

"Because of the way I was raised, I thought of myself as better than all of you. But Midoriya changed all of that at the sports festival."

"Yeah, but you didn't care that no one liked you."

"You're right, Mineta, I didn't. Part of me still doesn't. Ironically, that's why everyone likes me."

"I am so confused."

Sero changed the subject.

"So have any of you finished the homework for Mike's class?"

* * *

 _Heights Alliance  
1800, Sunday afternoon_

A cacophony of noise assaulted Kirishima's ears, waking him from his stupor. At first, the redhead was confused as to why he wasn't in his own bed but it wasn't long before he recalled the events of the past few hours.

Kirishima cracked an eye open; the sky outside of the large window directly in front of his couch was pitch black. He could see reflections of his classmates as they walked back and forth past the window.

"Oi, shitbird!"

Kirishima groaned; he knew who was on the other side of that voice. His suspicions were confirmed as he propped himself up on an elbow and found Bakugo sanding over him.

"I don't like it when people lie to me."

Kirishima opened his mouth to answer but Bakugo held up a hand.

"What happened at the hospital?"

Kirishima heard a gasp, recognized the voice, felt is heart stop, and turned towards the sound all in one second.

To his horror, there stood Mina, her hand over her mouth; her eyes were wide with shock but, as Kirishima watched, narrowed in anger.


	10. A Heart to Heart

_Heights Alliance common room  
1803, Sunday night_

It was like sitting in the eye of the storm; all around Kirishima, the members of class 1A were going about their various evening activities, the jovial atmosphere contrasting starkly with the deafening silence that existed between a certain three students.

All around them were the sights and sounds of good friends enjoying their Sunday: laughter, playful insults, Kaminari and Jiro standing shoulder to shoulder talking to Tokoyami and Sato, Todoroki and Midoriya listening to Ochako and Momo gush over Ochako's new support item, and even the sounds of slightly off tempo singing coming from a corner where Iida was sitting with Asui and Mineta.

For Kirishima, time stood still; while he couldn't see either of his friends, his gaze being focused on the floor, he could feel their combined stares beating down on him like some infernally blistering sunlight. The redhead screwed his eyes shut and pressed his palms against the lids as if trying to hide himself from being seen, as a naughty child might do when in trouble.

To his right, Bakugo stood with his arms folded and a neutral expression on his face. For those who knew Bakugo, the young man's stance did little to betray his state of mind. In this instant, Bakugo was, perhaps unsurprisingly, dangerously close to brushing his hands of the whole event and walking away. He did, after all, have his standards and _liars_ were not high on his priority list; unfortunately, he also fancied himself as someone who valued loyalty. Kirishima may be a _fucking_ _liar_ and a _good for nothing worthless weakling_ but he was still a _friend_.

Compared to Bakugo, Mina had the opposite problem; the pink skinned girl had always worn her emotions and feelings on her sleeve, as they say. As far back as she could remember, it had always been that way; and now, as she stared down at Kirishima, her eyes were betraying the hurt, anger, and disappointment that she felt inside. An unfortunate side effect was, of course, that she tended to act irrationally. But, on the rare occasion, Mina was able to keep a level head and make the right choice.

And so, when Mina turned and began to walk away from the two boys, a voice in the way back irrational part of her brain was screaming at her to stop and confront and shout at that _lying no good asshole_ Kirishima while another, rather more powerful, voice was telling her to ' _walk away_ before you make this situation worse'.

The sight of Mina's rapidly retreating form was enough to galvanize Kirishima into action; he rose from the couch and give chase. Or, at least, he would have given chase if a rough and callused hand was not suddenly holding his upper arm in a surprisingly strong grip.

"Let me go, Bakugo." growled Kirishima, not bothering to look at his captor.

"You own me an answer, shitrag." Bakugo spoke in a voice just barely over a whisper.

Kirishima turned toward his friend, wrenching his arm out of Bakugo's grasp in the process.

"I don't own you shit, Kacchan!"

At the sound of his hated nickname, Bakugo froze; Kirishima took the opportunity to give one more sneer before turning and beginning to jog after Mina. He called her name a few times but either she was out of earshot, couldn't hear him over the din of the common room, or wasn't interested in talking (If Bakugo had been a bettin' man, he would put all the money the last option).

Suddenly, Bakugo grinned. To anyone who knew him, it was a classic Bakugo 'oh shit' grin. Next came the metaphorical explosion.

"Don't you fucking turn your back on me, you redheaded little shit!"

Kaminari, Jiro, Tokoyami and Sato, the four people closest to Bakugo and Kirishima, all fell silent. Now that he could see them properly, Bakugo noted that Kaminari and Jiro were holding hands, which, if anything, just served to piss him off further.

Kirishima didn't respond or even stop walking; Bakugo felt one of his eyes twitch, a dangerous sign, and hastily moved to follow Kirishima. He reached out a hand and grabbed Kirishima's shoulder…

WHAM!

A short scream split the air as Bakugo staggered back several feet, a shocked expression on his face. He wasn't quite sure what he had expected, but Kirishima punching him in the face was, honestly, near the bottom of that list. He raised a hand to wipe away something wet that was running down the outer canthus of his left eye; he brought his hand back into view and saw, as he expected, a smear of blood staining his fingers.

Normally, Bakugo would have launched himself at whomever had hit him without a second thought, but something held him back this time. Thanks to Jiro's scream, several more of his classmates had looked over just in time to see Kirishima whack him in the eye.

Kirishima himself had slid, perhaps unconsciously, into a fighting stance, his hands raised to protect his face. His hands and upper arms were Hardened; a fact that caused Kirishima's eyes to widen in shock. A second later, and Bakugo was certain he had imagined it as Kirishima's eyes narrowed, their focus shifting onto his friend and opponent once more.

Aware that about a dozen pairs of eyes were focused on him and their owners were waiting with baited breath for his reaction, Bakugo surprised all of them by not instantly launching himself at Kirishima; instead, he wiped his hand over his eye again and, flicking it downwards, caused several drops of blood to speckle onto the floor of the dorm.

Without a word, the resident hothead of class 1A began to saunter backwards; he raised both hands and blasted Kirishima a double bird (middle finger) straight to the face before turning on his heel and swaggering off towards the elevators. The furious sneer did not leave Kirishima's face as he watched his _friend_ disappear behind the pneumatic doors.

Kirishima reached out a hand and took ahold of the sturdy back of one of the ever-present couches to steady himself; he knew the momentary activation of his Quirk, as pleasant a surprise as it was, would probably only serve to exacerbate his…his _condition._ He couldn't bring himself to say tumor. Not yet.

Sure enough, he felt the all too familiar pounding in the base of his skull; the lights of the common room suddenly seemed to flare like the brightest Navel Laser Aoyama had ever produced was being discharged in front of his face. Gritting his teeth against the increasing pain, Kirishima turned a quick 180 and, taking small but confident steps, began to edge his way towards the main doors in hopes of catching Mina.

As Kirishima passed, Kaminari raised a hand, unwittingly miming a young child hesitantly asking a question in class.

"Hey, are you alri-"

Kirishima kept right on walking; Kaminari's hand half-heartedly hung in the air as its owner watched the retreating form of his classmate. He turned towards Jiro, a perplexed look on his face.

"What just happened?"

Jiro rolled her eyes.

Kirishima shouldered past a few other members of class 1A, ignored their various questions, and finally made his way to the double doors. He pulled them open and walked through in one, thankfully smooth, motion.

The night air was chilly; a light breeze was blowing and sending dead leaves, caught in the gust, dancing along the ground. Kirishima shivered and folded his arms across his chest; why hadn't he brought a sweater? Remembering why he had come out here, he hurried forward, his head swiveling from side to side searching for Mina.

Suddenly, he was falling; he had time for a quick "fuck!" before he landed heavily on his side, bounced once, and came to a crunching, aching, bone jarring halt at the _bottom of the stairs that he had forgotten about!_

Cursing himself, Kirishima ran through a quick 'system check':  
Arms? Fine.  
Legs? Fine  
Torso? Mostly Fine.  
Ass? Bruised.  
Head? Agony.

White hot lances of pain burned across his skull as he fought his way to a standing position. It was all he could do to hold back the bile rising from his stomach. Breathing heavily through his mouth, Kirishima resumed his search; unable to see anyone in his immediate vicinity, Kirishima spent several seconds weighing the pros and cons of different directions before speeding off towards the main UA building.

Luck was with him; after several minutes of searching, Kirishima spotted Mina standing beneath one of the uber bright street lights that he and Sero had once teased Mineta about by saying they had been added only after he had started at UA that year.

Kirishima slowed to a walk as he approached his classmate; suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to about face and hightail it back to Heights Alliance. Unlike Kirishima, Mina appeared to have been smart enough to grab a jacket before leaving the dorm; still, Kirishima could see her shiver and hug herself against the cold. Mina gave no indication she had noticed him as he drew close: she did not wave or call his name.

After a quick mental deliberation, Kirishima settled on a greeting that he was pretty sure would be a safe bet; steeling himself, he flashed a grin.

"Hey, Mina."

' _Good'_ he thought to himself.

Mina's head turned _ever so slightly_ in Kirishima's direction, her eyes half shut against the wind. When she gave no response, Kirishima decided to try another tactic. Mina couldn't resist gossip.

"Did you see Jiro and Kaminari back there in the dorm?"

He let out a little laugh.

"Kaminari must have damn near pooped his pants when that happened."

Silence from Radio Mina.

"I guess that's another couple we can –"

"Oh, just STOP it, Kirishima!"

The shock of Mina's harsh tone broke over him like a wave over a rocky shore. Kirishima fell silent. Mina let out a sniffle, took a deep breath, and continued, her voice slightly shaky.

"I've actually had a pretty rough day, and I just don't have time for this!"

Kirishima looked down at his feet. And then back at Mina. Who suddenly let out a laugh.

"This is just like us, isn't it, Kiri?"

Kirishima attempted a halfhearted smile as Mina wiped something out of her eye.

"I punched Bakugo." He said simply.

"And you're still alive?"

"For now, anyway."

Mina gave another chuckle. She turned away from Kirishima. Her voice was a few octaves higher than normal when she spoke.

"Do you remember what I said to you, our first day of school?"

Kirishima wrinkled his nose. He extended his index fingers and placed his hands over his ears.

"Horn buddies!"

Mina didn't laugh. Kirishima slowly lowered his hands.

"I said that I was waiting eagerly for your big high school debut, remember? And that I was going to spread the word that you were done getting in your own way."

Kirishima remained silent.

"We didn't talk much in middle school, did we? Never really noticed you, to be honest.

But after what you said to my friends that day, I promised myself that I would talk to you as much as I could before high school. I thought that, after getting into UA, I wouldn't see you again."

Mina sniffed and rubbed her eyes again. In the light of the LED bulb overhead, Kirishima saw tears glistening on her cheeks.

"I looked for you at the entrance exam, even though I didn't think I'd find you."

Kirishima looked at his feet.

"On the first day of school, I almost missed my train because I overslept. I was so worried I was going to get in trouble for being late on the first day. "

"And suddenly, there you were, right in front of me."

Kirishima looked up. Mina was holding one index finger "horn" on the side of her head.

"Horn buddies," she said softly.

Mina closed her eyes.

"I was happy to see you there, in front of the school that day, because…

…you're so amazing and so special and I'm…not."

Her voice broke.

Kirishima hesitated, unsure of what to do. Finally, he settled on a course of action. The wrong course, as it so happened.

"Mina, you know no one thinks about you that way."

She let out a bitter laugh.

"What are you talking about? Everyone is waiting for me to flunk out. Lowest test scores in the class, only one super move? Even Aizawa has given up on me."

Suddenly, she was shouting again.

"And y-you won't even trust me enough to tell me what's wrong with you."

Kirishima was taken aback. He stumbled over his words, trying to find the right ones.

"It-it has nothing do with trust, M-"

"Oh, it has nothing to do with trust! Fine! I thought you were done getting in your own way!"

Kirishima felt himself beginning to lose his temper.

"I was! I mean, I am!"

"Aha! You haven't changed at all! Just a new paint job!"

"I spiked my hair to look like you!"

Mina fell silent. She reached a hand up and gingerly touched the base of one of her horns.

"Like…me…?"

"Geez…one of my friends said that you had a unique look and a flashy Quirk, and you'd make a good hero!"

"But…I thought Red Riot was your hero."

"Well, I guess that means I have two heroes." Kirishima snapped.

Suddenly, Mina found herself quite speechless. She opened and closed her mouth several times; to Kirishima, she looked like a fish that had forgotten how to fish.

Mina shook her head.

"No! No NO NO!"

"Mina?"

"No, goddamit! You do not want to be like me, Kiri!"

She spun around and faced away from him, so he couldn't see her face.

Mina broke down; her sobs echoing across the dark campus. For a few moments, Kirishima stood rooted to the spot, unsure of what to do.

Three seconds later, and he found himself wrapping his arms around the weeping girl. Immediately, he felt Mina stiffen against his touch. A moment later, and she was struggling against his grip.

"Let me go, Kirishima!"

"Tell me what's wrong, Mina!"

She succeeded in pulling herself out of his arms. She turned to face him once again. Her breath came racing out in white puffs of steam as she shouted at him.

"Oh, now you want to talk about what's wrong?"

"If you're talking about that video, you were amaz-"

"SHUT UP! I almost got killed!"

Mina lowered her head. When she spoke, her voice was so quiet it was nearly blown away.

"I…was almost...k-killed…ok? I wasn't thinking and there was a gun and any of us could have been shot."

For two frozen heartbeats, the two stood motionless, each lost in their own thoughts; one sobbing loudly, the other trembling silently.

This time, it was Mina who closed the distance. Leaping forward, she wrapped Kirishima in her arms and buried her face in his shoulder. Kirishima had to suppress a chuckle as her horns tickled his ear. Awkwardly, he wrapped his arms around the shaking girl, careful to avoid going _too low_.

How long they stood there, underneath the light, he was unsure.

"Ahhhh, look, All Might: young love!"

The two young heroes jumped apart and began to search around for the source of the intruding voice; out of the gloom, two figures materialized and began to walk towards them. As they reached the edge of the halo of blue light, the faces of Midnight and All Might came into focus.

The two Pro Heroes were walking arm in arm, making no attempt to hide their physical proximity. Kirishima looked from one to the other as they came to a halt in front of the young duo.

Midnight was the first to speak; the Hero took one look at Mina and her smile instantly transformed into an ugly grimace as she rounded on Kirishima. She spoke, her voice low and guttural.

"What. Did. You. Do?"

Kirishima felt himself hastily backing up, his hands held in front of his face in a feeble attempt to ward of danger.

"N-nothing, I swear!"

Midnight turned to Mina, her expression instantly softening.

"Is that true, sweetie?" she asked in a voice as sweet as honey.

Mina gave a tiny nod and wiped her eyes again. Midnight grabbed the girl by the shoulder and pulled her into a tight embrace; Mina did not struggle to escape (a fact that Kirishima did not fail to notice).

Behind the embracing pair, All Might crossed over to Kirishima.

"To be honest, I'm a little surprised to see Young Ashido and yourself outside on such a cold night, Young Kirishima. I would have expected you both to be inside your dorm."

All Might looked in the direction of said dorm before continuing.

"Although I can't say it's an unwelcome surprise; you see, Midnight and myself were actually looking for you."

Kirishima didn't respond except to point at himself.

"Ah, I misspoke; It was I who was looking for you and chanced upon Miss Midnight carrying out a rather…unpleasant task for Mr. Aizawa."

Kirishima glanced at Mina, who was still wrapped, sobbing, in Midnight's arms.

"Unpleasant?"

"It seems Students Ashido, Ochako, and Yaoyorozu have…attracted the attention of our illustrious principal. As their homeroom teacher, it falls to Mr. Aizawa to speak with them."

"And that lazy good-for-nothing send me instead." Said Midnight, speaking loudly to be heard over Mina's sobs.

All Might gestured to Kirishima.

"Come, Young Kirishima. Let's leave Young Ashido to Miss Midnight."


End file.
